Little Wonders
by DSI-ScullyGibson
Summary: Eighteen-year-old Dana Scully is starting her second year at the University of Maryland while trying to raise her one-year-old daughter at the same time when she meets a transfer student from Oxford with an odd name. College AU
1. Prologue

_Monday, 1 September 2014_

 _Scully Residence_

 _6:00 am_

Dana awoke to silence, her eyes immediately going to the digital alarm clock next to the bed. The time caused her to frown, and she rolled over to turn on her lamp. In the past couple of days, she had been awoken in the middle of the night due to her one-year-old's persistent cold so she was quite confused as to why she hadn't had to do the same the previous night. As the lamp lit up her nightstand, she noticed the baby monitor she usually kept there was gone. Well, that certainly explained why she hadn't been woken up by the cries of a very unhappy seventeen-month-old yet, but she still should have been able to hear something since the nursery was right across the hall from her room.

Letting out a sigh, she pulled herself out of bed, pulling on the robe she kept on her desk chair and heading out of her room to check on her baby. The door to the nursery was already open and the soft glow of lamplight spilled out slightly into the hall. She could hear soft humming as she crossed the hall, and when she got to the doorway she saw her mother holding the small child securely in her arms while she dozed lightly in the rocking chair.

"Mom..." Dana whispered softly, causing Maggie to look up at her daughter in surprise. "Have you been here all night? Why didn't you wake me? You know I would have taken care of her, you didn't have to do it for me."

It had been something she had insisted upon ever since she first found out she was pregnant two years ago; despite her age, she was determined to take care of her daughter on her own, unless she absolutely needed help. The only thing she had given in to was her parents' insistence that she continue living at home while she attended the University of Maryland, since they lived within a reasonable commute of the university campus. That way, at least she had someone to watch her daughter while she was in classes. The arrangement had worked during her first year of university, and as much as she loved having her parents around to help, she couldn't help but feel that she should start to look for her own place now that she was going to be starting her sophomore year.

"I know I didn't, Dana," Maggie answered quietly, opening her eyes as Dana came up to kneel next to her and began to softly stroke the fine red hair on her daughter's head. "But classes start again today, and you've been so tired since she got this cold…I wanted you to have a good night's sleep tonight."

So she took the baby monitor from my room, Dana finished for her mother in her head. "Didn't she cry? I can usually hear her across the hall without the monitor, and I didn't hear anything this time."

Maggie gave her daughter a small smile and kissed the little girl in her arms on the head. "It was more of a few persistent whimpers and sounds of discomfort that came through around one in the morning," she explained softly. "She fell asleep a few hours ago, but I just wanted to be sure she would stay asleep. I guess I fell asleep with her."

Dana nodded and she turned her gaze toward her daughter, her fingers tenderly grazing her slightly feverish forehead. The poor thing had caught her first true cold a few days before, and it continued to stubbornly hold on making her usually lively, giggly little girl sluggish and weak. However, the doctor had assured them it was nothing too serious, but to bring her to the hospital if her fever rose any higher. Thankfully, they had not yet needed to take that advice.

"I can stay home, mom," she whispered after a few moments. "It's only the first day, a lot of professors only run through the syllabus and let us go…" But she trailed off as her mother began shaking her head.

"No, Dana, go to class," Maggie insisted. "We'll be fine, won't we, my sweet girl?" She gently pressed a small kiss to the top of the little girl's head, rubbing her back in soothing circles when she began to whimper again. "She'll be alright, her fever has already begun to go down. Go to class."

Dana pursed her lips a bit, but nodded at her mother's insistence. "I'll come straight home after I'm finished," she told her quietly, her eyes never leaving her sleeping baby's face. "You'll call me if anything happens, right? If anything gets worse?" Of course she knew her mother would always call if anything happened, she just couldn't help but feel nervous leaving her poor little girl when she was sick for the first time just so she could go listen to her professors introduce the semester and let them go ten minutes into the lecture.

"Yes, Dana, but like I said, she'll be fine," Maggie insisted. "Now go get ready, I thought you had an early class."


	2. First Day

_Here's the next chapter guys! Thanks so much for the reviews, and for those of you who mentioned not being big on angst, don't worry, I'm planning on there being relatively little angst. Almost nonexistent. But there does have to be some for plot purposes, just to keep it interesting._

 _Hope you enjoy!_

 _Monday, 1 September 2014_

 _University of Maryland_

 _7:55 am_

"8 am class…yeah, wonderful idea, Dana," she murmured to herself as she pulled her car into a parking space before quickly reaching over to grab her bag and books from the passenger seat.

There was five minutes before her class started, and if she didn't hurry she wasn't even going to make it into the building in time, let alone the lecture hall. Rather than listening to her mother immediately, she had continued to fuss about her daughter after she had finished getting ready, causing her to leave later than she had intended. She had been almost out the door, leaning in to give her little girl a kiss on the forehead when the baby had let out a pathetic little cough. Although it may have been slightly exaggerated (as babies have a tendency to do when they get colds), it still pulled on her heartstrings, and she almost pushed her way back into the house to cuddle the child until her cold was gone. Her mother, however, had basically shoved her out the door and locked it behind her just to get her to go to class. Although they didn't live extremely far from campus, a combination of her hesitance to leave and the start of morning traffic caused her to run late.

Now, here Dana was hurrying across the main Quad to get to the science building. As she entered the building, hastily adjusting her bag on her shoulder, she attempted to check her watch as she turned a corner to go down the hall her class was in. 7:58…she was almost there, she could definitely make it.

Just as that thought left her head, Dana felt something solid run into her as she completely rounded the corner, causing her to drop her books and fall back onto her butt. Blinking a couple of times in shock, she looked to her books scattered on the floor with the contents of her purse spilling to mingle with them.

"Oh, I'm so sorry…" She heard an embarrassed sounding voice mumble. Glancing up, Dana saw a tall boy with dark hair and a distinguished profile standing over her, a small blush on his face. "Here, let me help you with that," he said, kneeling down next to her in order to help.

Blushing in part embarrassment and part anger, she got on her knees to quickly try and gather the contents of her purse back into the bag before he could start helping. "No, thank you, I don't need your help!" She replied a little more snappishly than she had intended. That's what being late for class did to her, and now she was going to be really late thanks to this asshole.

When she finished shoving the items back into her purse, she turned to stack her books, only to find they were already nicely stacked in front of her and the boy still kneeling at her side with a sad puppy look on his face. Pursing her lips, Dana picked up the books and stood, quickly starting to hurry down the hall to her class without saying anything to the boy.

She didn't get very far before she heard the voice from behind her call, "Wait!" Letting out a frustrated sigh, she stopped and turned around, frowning when she saw him holding a small object. "I-I think you m-missed something…" the boy mumbled, blushing a bit as he held out the item awkwardly. When she finally realized what it was, Dana began to blush furiously as well and quickly snatched the tampon from his hand and dropped it back into the purse with the other emergency supplies she carried.

Before she could start off down the hall again, the boy once more called out to her and she clenched her teeth in frustration. "What?" She snapped, looking at him in annoyance before checking the time on her watch again. 8:08. Wonderful. At least it was a bigger class and her lateness was less likely to be noticed if she slipped in the back.

"Woah, sorry…" he muttered in response, holding up his hands in defense. "I was just trying to help after I ran you down."

Dana quirked an eyebrow at him and pursed her lips, making a show of glancing at her watch again so he knew she had somewhere to be other than talking to him. "And I was hoping maybe you could point me in the direction of room L2 200," he added sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head with his hand. "I figured the L2 meant level two, but it doesn't look like that since I already went up there and there was no such room."

Letting out a sigh, Dana glanced to the stairwell leading down just down the hall from them. "I'm going to the same room," she answered after a few moments, turning and signaling for him to follow her. "L2 stands for lower two, by the way. This is the main floor, you have to go down two levels to find lower two."

The boy gave a baffled look as they began to descend the stairs and then shook his head. "Whose idea was that?" He exclaimed. "Clearly someone who thought it would be hilarious to get students completely lost on their first day."

Dana couldn't held but smile and shake her head a bit at those words. "No one understands engineers," she added with a small laugh. "Everyone gets lost the first time they have a class in this building."

They turned down a hall when they got to lower two and just as Dana moved to open the back door to the lecture hall, she noticed the boy looking at her in what could almost be considered admiration. "What?" She asked quietly, her eyebrow quirking.

He seemed to realize that he was staring in that moment and quickly looked down at the floor, a small blush rising in his cheeks. "Um, it's nothing," he said quietly. "You just have a really beautiful smile." Dana looked at him in shock as he looked back up at her. "That's all." He watched her for another moment before holding out his hand. "Fox Mulder," he said.

Dana stared at him and then down at his hand and back up again. "What?" She asked in confusion, a little disoriented from the unexpected compliment.

He laughed and shook his head. "My name. It's Fox Mulder," he clarified, managing to take her hand. When she still didn't say anything to him, he tilted his head just slightly. "Now would be a good time to tell me your name, Red."

Dana's eyes widened and she pulled her hand away quickly. "It's Dana," she said shortly, the nickname causing her sour mood to come back. "Dana Scully. And you, Fox Mulder, have made me…" she looked down at her watch again. "Fifteen minutes late for class." She gave him a small glare and yanked the door open with her free hand. "I'm sure you can find your way to your seat from here," she hissed over her shoulder as she made her way quickly to the nearest seat to the door so she wouldn't be noticed.

She had set her purse and the books for her other classes on the floor and set her notebook on the long lecture table in front of her when she noticed someone sit next to her. Glancing to her left, she saw Fox Mulder giving her a sheepish smile. Rolling her eyes, she looked to her notebook and clicked her pen a little more forcefully than necessary.

God, this was going to be a long day.


	3. Coffee

_Hey guys! Thanks again for all the reviews. Just a reminder, this is an AU story. Yes, Mulder is an Oxford student, but there is a reason in this story why he is at Maryland instead. He is still older than Dana, he'll be 21 in October and he is in his fourth year. That is one year younger than he usually is, since I know Mulder is four years older than Scully in the show, but I wanted him to still be in his undergrad when he switched so that he and Scully would be able to be in a class together. Dana is in her second year, but she is eighteen because I believe it is believable that she probably skipped a grade when she was younger. I understand that she seemed a little standoffish and rude last chapter, but she got stressed because she ended up being far later for class than she had wanted to be. She'll realize that she was unreasonable this chapter. As for why Mulder is here and not Oxford, you'll find that out when he and Dana start to get to know one another, as well as the story of her daughter's birth._

 _Monday, 1 September 2014_

 _University of Maryland_

 _1:00 pm_

With her classes finally finished for the day, Dana started to head out to the parking lot again, adjusting her books in her arms when they began to slip. As she approached the parking lot, she saw Fox Mulder walking her way, causing her to gasp and try to hide her face.

"Oh, gosh," she mumbled softly in embarrassment. She had been extremely rude to him that morning before class, and she had realized just how rude by the time her second class had come to an end. Glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, she quickly ducked her head back into her books and tried to walk a little faster.

"Hey," she heard his voice say, jumping when she felt his hand touch her arm softly. Letting out a sigh, she looked up to him, her eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights and her cheeks flushed slightly in embarrassment. "Look…I know you may not like me much, if this morning was anything to go by, but…"

"No, wait, stop…" Dana interrupted with a sigh. She closed her eyes for a moment, shifting her weight from foot to foot before opening them again. "I'm sorry. It was early, I was late for class, and I was rude, and none of those things are an excuse for the way I acted." She looked down and pursed her lips a little. "Sometimes I'm not a nice person before I've had my morning coffee, and I didn't have time to grab some this morning."

Giving her a small smile, Mulder brushed a red strand that had blown in front of her face behind her ear. "Well…maybe we can grab some now and I can get to know the real you," he suggested with a smile, moving his hand away and taking a small step toward her. "I just transferred here and I don't know anyone…except for you. It would be nice to get to know the one person I've already had some interaction with…whether that interaction was friendly or not."

Dana blushed at his actions and words and then took in a deep breath, looking down to her books again. "I would love to but I have to get home," she answered softly, looking back up to meet his eyes. She hadn't noticed before, but she really couldn't tell exactly what colour his eyes were; they seemed to fluctuate between green, brown, and gray.

His smile fell a little and he reached out to gently take her books from her. "Here, let me hold these for you," he insisted quietly, his fingers brushing hers as he took the books into his arms. "We won't be too long. I promise, just a quick cup of coffee."

Sighing, Dana adjusted her bag on her shoulder and looked at her hands now that she could see them. She really wasn't sure what excuse she could give him. He was cute, and he seemed nice; she really did want to get to know him. Plus, letting him take her for coffee would certainly make up for how rude she had been earlier. Most guys didn't like girls with babies, and her daughter was he excuse for disappearing home so quickly. She couldn't tell him her real reason, and she couldn't come up with a good false reason not to join him.

"I guess just for a little while," she said reluctantly. "But just one cup and then I really have to get home."

Mulder chuckled. "What, will your parents be upset if you don't make it home in time for supper?" He joked.

Dana pursed her lips and let out a sigh. "No…I just have…I have responsibilities at home that I really need to go take care of," she answered carefully. She was quiet for a moment and then she began moving again. "Let's put my books in my car and then we can go to one of the coffee shops nearby."

Mulder looked a little baffled at those words. "You're…what, a freshman? You don't live in the dorms?" He asked as he placed the books on the back seat as she opened the door.

A small smirk played on Dana's lips at his words and she shook her head. "I'm a sophomore," she corrected as they began to walk together to the coffee shop. "I skipped a grade in grade school. But I…my parents live in Annapolis so I just stay with them and drive to school in the morning."

"Hence why you were running late this morning," he teased, opening the door to the coffee shop for her and gently placing his hand on her lower back as he followed her inside.

"Well, no, that's not the reason," Dana said defensively. "I managed to get to classes on time all last year." Although she hadn't had an 8 am class last year, but he didn't need to know that. "I was just…I was busy doing something…"

"Those responsibilities you're so anxious to get back to," he added in a teasing tone.

"Yes, responsibilities," she agreed absentmindedly. "I lost track of time, that's all. It will all be back to normal soon and I won't have to worry when I leave for classes."

"And why's that?" Mulder asked curiously with a small frown.

Those words caused Dana to look at him in slight alarm and she shook her head quickly. "Never mind," she whispered. Mulder was about to make another remark but stopped when she gave him a look that told him to drop it. They got their coffee and moved to sit by the window. There was a small awkward silence as they watched one another and then Dana cleared her throat and looked into her coffee.

"You said you transferred here…where did you go before?" She asked curiously, taking a small sip of her coffee.

"I went to Oxford for my first three years," he answered.

That caused Dana to choke slightly on her coffee. "Oxford?" She choked out, her tone a little strangled from coughing. "What are you doing here? If I went to Oxford, I wouldn't transfer here! Or anywhere for that matter…"

Mulder chuckled quietly before letting his smile falter just a little bit. "It's um…it's a long story," he answered. "One maybe best saved for a later date." Dana gave him an alarmed look at those words and his eyes widened as he realized the words he used. "I mean not that this is a date! Unless, of course, you want it to be, but…" He sighed and closed his eyes. "Sorry," he said with a chuckle. "Long story short, there was something that happened in my family and my parents needed me to come back home so I could be closer to help."

Dana nodded slowly and carefully set her cup down on the table. "I see," she replied with a small smile. "I hope it was nothing too serious."

The small smile returned to Mulder's lips and he shook his head. "No, not serious," he assured her, a small laugh slipping from his lips. "Quite the opposite, in fact. It was good news."

Dana returned his smile and absentmindedly stirred her coffee. "Good, it's never nice to get bad news when you're away," she replied softly, her own smile disappearing. Her father had gotten bad news when he was away for work when she found out she was pregnant, and she was sure it was difficult for him.

"Why are you going here?" Mulder asked after a moment. "I mean, you said you skipped a grade. I'm assuming you graduated from high school top of your class as well. Surely you could have gotten into an Ivy League school if you wanted to, or even Oxford."

Surprised, Dana looked back up to him, giving him a tiny smile before sighing. "I could have gotten in, yes," she answered. "But, um…well, something happened in my family as well before I went off, and I didn't want to be too far away from them." She began to stir her coffee again, pushing a piece of hair behind her ear before it could even fully fall in front of her face. "Plus, we didn't really have the money to send me somewhere like Harvard or Oxford. I'm a navy brat, and I'm the second youngest of four kids."

Mulder gave a low whistle at those words. "Four kids," he mused slowly. "I'm impressed with your mother already and I haven't even met her. It can't have been easy raising four kids while your dad went out to sea."

Dana gave a small laugh and shook her head. "No, I don't think it was," she agreed with a smile. "But she had her system, and it seemed to work for her."

When she looked back up to him, she noticed him watching her with a goofy grin. "What?" She asked with a laugh.

Mulder pressed his lips together and shook his head, his eyes still smiling. "Nothing," he replied. "It's just…I really do like your smile. And your laugh. You have a beautiful laugh."

Dana's breath caught in her throat and she felt the heat rise up in her cheeks again. She didn't know what to say to him. That was the second time in one day he had complimented her, and she wasn't sure what to do with it. She wasn't exactly someone who usually got complimented by boys. That was her sister Melissa. "Thank you…" she breathed quietly.

He moved his chair a little closer to hers, gently taking his hand. When she didn't pull away, he smiled softly, placing a finger under her chin and raising her head to look at him. Dana felt her breathing increase as she realized how close their faces were to one another. Her eyes fluttered closed as he leaned in closer to her.

A sudden loud vibration coming from the table caused her to jump away from him and snap out of her trance. Looking to the source of the sound, she saw her phone lying on the table, lit up with a text. Quickly, she picked it up before he could see the background photo of her daughter on her first birthday and read the text from her mum asking where she was. "Oh…I'm sorry, I should get going," she breathed quietly. "I told my mum I would be home right after class. I probably should have sent her a message that I was going to have coffee with you."

Mulder took her hand again to calm her down. "It's okay," he said softly. "Maybe we can have lunch tomorrow and continue this. Do you have a class at noon?"

Dana shook her head. "I have one at 11 and one at 2," she replied. "I start later on Tuesdays and Thursdays."

Mulder gave her a smile, standing with her and grabbing her bag for her. He left some money with a tip on the table and took her hand. "Good…we can do lunch tomorrow then," he said with a smile. "I'll walk you to your car."

They walked in a silence, this one much more comfortable than the one that had occurred when they were in the coffee shop. Stopping by the driver's side door, Mulder turned to face her, holding his phone out to her. Dana looked at the phone in confusion, and then up to him again. "Your number," Mulder said with a laugh. "I need your number so we can meet up tomorrow."

"Oh…right," Dana mumbled, blushing in embarrassment as she took the phone and typed her number in. Handing it back, she gave him a soft smile and opened the door to get into her car.

"See you tomorrow," Mulder said, the goofy grin back.


	4. Discussions and Cookies

_Thank you, everyone, for the reviews! I'm so glad everyone's enjoying it so far. This chapter vaguely answers a few question about Dana and her daughter, but still not fully. You will learn all when Mulder learns all ;)_

 _Monday, 1 September 2014_

 _Scully Residence_

 _2:15 pm_

Childish giggles were the first thing Dana heard when she walked through the front door. A small smile began to grown on her lips as she set her bag and her books on the bench in the entryway before slowly peeking into the living room. The sight that greeted her made the smile grow bigger. There on the floor with her one-year-old was her father, tickling the little girl and talking to her in silly voices. Her father, a serious Captain in the navy, talking in silly voices…it wasn't an interaction she remembered seeing her father have when she was a child. Although, it was unlikely she would remember him interacting with a baby like that since Charlie was only a few minutes younger than her.

"He interacts with her in the same way he used to with you," Maggie said quietly as she came up to watch her husband and granddaughter beside her daughter. "She reminds him so much of you at that age; he told me."

That caused Dana to smile; she had been worried about her father's reaction when he found out about her pregnancy during her senior year of high school. While he hadn't been angry, she knew he was disappointed despite what he may have told her, which was much, much worse to her. His anger had been saved for the boy who, in his view, was entirely to blame for her condition.

Her concerns had grown further when she had decided against adoption after giving birth to Hannah. It had been a tentative and hesitant decision during the first few months of her pregnancy that she would consider giving the baby up for adoption, since both she and her family felt abortion was out of the question. Despite her mother's reluctance at the decision, both her parents had agreed that it would be best to consider adoption rather than letting a seventeen year old raise a baby. However, her fears had been abated when she had seen her father hold Hannah for the first time, and seeing him with her now added even more to her relief. Thinking back on the day of her daughter's birth now, she believed she might have seen relief in her parents when she had informed them that she wanted to raise Hannah herself.

"Was the traffic bad?" She heard her mother tentatively ask after a few moments of silence from the two of them. Dana pressed her lips into a thin line and mentally rolled her eyes. That was her mother's subtle way of asking, _Why were you_ really _home later than you told me you would be?_

"Um…no, it was fine, actually," Dana admitted, pushing back a stray strand of red hair. "I stopped for coffee with a boy I met today because I couldn't think of an excuse for why I was needed at home without telling him about Hannah. I meant to send you a text to tell you I would be later than I thought but I forgot."

That seemed to catch her mother's attention and Dana immediately avoided eye contact with her. "A boy?" Maggie asked with interest. Dana's opinion of the opposite sex had gone out the door when she had gotten pregnant, and she hadn't given boys a second thought since it happened. Of course, having a baby hadn't really helped her prospects when it came to boyfriends. To hear that her daughter had had coffee with a boy was a surprise to Maggie. "Well…what's his name?" She asked, her tone becoming excited. There must have been something about this boy if her daughter had agreed to spend time with him.

Dana pursed her lips just slightly at her mother's nosiness. She knew she only wanted to see her happy and loved, but Dana did not want to jump to that right now…she had responsibilities that most boys were not eager to accept. In an attempt to change the subject, she glanced back to her daughter giggling happily at her grandfather's actions. "She seems to be feeling better," she observed. A small laugh escaped her as the little girl grabbed onto William Scully's nose, causing him to let out an exaggerated cry of surprise that caused the girl to burst into another bout of giggles.

"The last time I gave her medicine for her fever was this morning shortly after you left; it seems to have broken," Maggie explained before turning to give her daughter a stern look when she realized what she was trying to do. "Don't you think you're changing the subject on me, Dana Katherine! What's his name?"

Dana sighed and turned to look at her mother with an arched eyebrow. "It's Fox Mulder," she started.

"Fox? Interesting name," her mother interrupted. Seeing the look Dana was giving her for the interruption, Maggie gave her a smile and began to lead her daughter into the kitchen. "Well, go on. How did you meet? How was coffee?"

"Jeez, mom, one question at a time," Dana said with an amused smile as she sat down at the table and stole a cookie from the plate that was sitting out. "He's in my first class. I literally ran into him in the hallway on my way to my way there…I fell and dropped all my things and he helped me." She blushed a little in shame and nibbled on the cookie. "I was kind of rude to him, though…that's why I felt I probably owed him when he asked me to go for coffee with him.

Maggie smiled and sat down across from her, setting a cup on tea in front of her before taking a sip of her own. "Well, it doesn't seem to have bothered him if he still wanted to take his chances at coffee with you," she observed.

"He asked me to go for lunch tomorrow before my second class," Dana added quietly. Maggie studied Dana for a moment and noticed that the small blush that had appeared earlier had grown a little with her words. She knew that look: Dana liked this boy she was talking about.

"Dana…" She started slowly. "If you like this boy, you know you can't keep avoiding telling him about Hannah. It would be better to tell him earlier so that he knows." Dana's lower lip quivered and tears filled her eyes a bit. "I know you're scared, dear, but you never know. He might be more accepting of your situation than you think. If he actually likes you enough, it won't matter to him that you have a daughter."

Sighing, Dana's quickly wiped at her eyes before any of her tears could fall. "What if he asks what happened?" She asked, her voice breaking.

"Then you tell him. Dana, it wasn't your fault. You need to remember that, honey. And if he thinks it was, then he really isn't worth it."

Dana nodded and wiped at her eyes again, letting out a small laugh as she noticed her mother push the plate of cookies toward her as a form of comfort. She took a second one and began nibbling on it.

"What's this?"

Turning, she saw her father enter the kitchen and quickly held her arms out to take Hannah. Bill Scully handed the baby over and smiled when Dana snuggled her. "It's nothing, Bill," Maggie stated, giving him a look to let him know to just drop the topic for now. "Dana?"

"Don't worry, mom," she responded, her voice muffled by Hannah's hair. Dana brought her head up to look at her mother. "I'll bring it up."


	5. Revelations

_Thank you for the reviews! Well, here it is, the chapter everyone was waiting for! I'm going to put a small warning on this since it mentions a past rape (but only mentions!)._

* * *

 _Tuesday, 2 September 2014_

 _University of Maryland_

 _11:55 am_

As her first class came to an end, Dana felt her nerves about her impending lunch date with Fox Mulder begin to kick in. The professor dismissed them and she dawdled as she gathered her books, secretly hoping that if she didn't make it out of the lecture hall in time, she would miss the date. She was seriously beginning to second guess her decision to even go on a second date. What was she thinking? Yes, he had been sweet, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't run in the other direction when he found out that she had a one-year-old daughter and she wasn't even nineteen yet. Mentally, she kicked herself at those thoughts. Why did it even matter to her? They hadn't even known one another a day. _One coffee date does not mean you're dating him, Dana_ , she chastised herself. They hadn't even known each other a day...it didn't matter what he thought of her or her daughter.

Finally, she exited the lecture hall, her heart pounding in her ears, and almost ran directly into Fox Mulder.

"We gotta stop meeting like this, Red," he chuckled with that goofy grin of his on his face, gently grabbing onto her shoulders to steady her. "I was almost ready to go in and search for you...see if you got lost on your way to the door. Everyone left five minutes ago."

Dana took in a shaky breath and glanced away from him, nervously picking at the skin around one of her nails. "Sometimes it takes me a while to gather everything," she said softly. "And I'm short...I can't seem to get through the crowds as quickly as others."

Finally, she looked up at him and almost panicked when she saw a concerned look cross his face. Instead, she quickly averted her gaze again and started walking, a blush rising in her cheeks. "Dana...is something wrong?" he asked, his tone just as concerned as the expression she had seen. "We were getting along so well after coffee yesterday, what's going on?"

God, how could he read her so well already? It was frustrating. "I'm sorry...I..." she stopped and took a deep breath and then looked to him. "You know what...let's just go sit down to eat." She watched his expression and saw that it wasn't changing. "I'm fine, just a little nervous." _But not exactly about the date,_ she added in her mind. Giving him a tiny smile, she adjusted her school bag on her shoulder and held out her hand to him.

A smile crossed Mulder's face and he took her hand gently. "Let me hold your bag for you," he whispered as he leaned in close to her. He let go of her hand for a brief moment to shoulder her bag and then took it again, causing Dana to blush lightly. "Let's go, I found this nice little diner on campus that I think you'll like."

* * *

 _Campus Diner_

 _12:15 pm_

After ordering their food, they sat awkwardly across from one another for a few moments, Dana quietly sipping her iced tea and trying to avoid eye contact once more. The nerves had started to disappear as they talking while they walked to the diner. Now that they were seated and had ordered, however, the nerves were back full force.

"Dana..." Mulder's voice came softly after a minute of silence between them. "Are you sure everything is alright? Did something happen when you got home yesterday?"

That caused Dana to look up at him and then let out a sigh, shaking her head. "No, nothing happened," she admitted quietly. "But..." She let out a sigh and looked away, bringing a hand to her forehead. "Fox...I should probably tell you something before you decide you want to go on any more dates with me. And it has something to do with the reason I had to leave so early yesterday."

She looked back at him hesitantly and saw the look of worry and concern return to his face. "Okay..." he breathed quietly. "But Dana...if it helps, whatever this is about, I will still want to be around you...I like being around you."

Tears filled Dana's eyes at his words and she took in a deep breath, closing her eyes to try to gain control of her emotions. "I have a baby..." she whispered almost inaudibly, her voice breaking as she said it. Despite her closed eyes, a few tears managed to escape and she quickly brushed her hair back. She opened her eyes again but kept her gaze on the table. "She turned one on April 6th."

Finally, she let her eyes raise to meet Mulder's again, only to see him giving her a tiny smile. "This is why you think I wouldn't want to be around you anymore?" he asked softly, reaching across the table to take her hands.

Quite frankly, Dana was surprised at his reaction. Anyone she had met since giving birth to Hannah had immediately backed away from her when they found out she was a teen mother. It made it rather difficult to make friends, even when she made it to university. "Nobody else wanted to be around me when they found out about her..." she explained quietly.

Another tear fell down her cheek, but this time Mulder reached up to wipe it away gently with his thumb, causing Dana's breath to catch in her throat. "Then they obviously couldn't see how great of a person you are," he whispered. Dana gave him a small smile and took in a shaky breath to try and calm herself. "What's her name?"

"Hannah," Dana responded softly, looking down to study their hands.

"I'm sure she's beautiful like her mother."

Dana's eyes widened at those words and she looked up to meet Mulder's eyes again. The sincerity she saw there caused a blush to creep into her cheeks. "No one's ever called me beautiful before," she whispered quietly.

Mulder's expression changed so quickly to one of surprise that it caused Dana to laugh softly. The laugh was enough to change his expression yet again and cause a smile to return to his face. He squeezed her hands and then caressed them with his thumbs. "Well...more people should tell you because it's true," he said finally.

They slipped into a comfortable silence after that, just holding hands and sharing looks until their food came and they had to take their hands back. A few bites into their meal, Mulder looked up to study Dana quietly for a moment. "High school boyfriend?" he asked softly, breaking their silence.

Dana's fork froze midway to her mouth and she looked up at him. "Excuse me?" she asked, slightly confused.

Mulder shifted a little and let out a small sigh. "What happened?" he clarified. "Was it a high school boyfriend, or was it something more?"

Finally understanding, Dana set her fork down shakily and once more averted eye contact. "Umm...no high school boyfriend," she whispered. "I've actually never had a boyfriend." She could feel his eyes on her but she couldn't look up at him again, not when there were tears filling her eyes again. He didn't push her though, which she appreciated, so she took a moment to compose herself enough to tell her story.

"We were in Ireland the summer before my senior year, visiting my grandparents and extended family" she started quietly, bringing her hands to the cloth napkin next to her plate and fiddling with it. "I was sixteen. My mother and father both came from a smaller town near the coast; it was probably considered a village, actually." She paused and took a deep breath. "It was August, nearing the end of our stay, and there was a little church fundraiser and dance. My sister had almost all the boys in the village begging her for a dance, as usual, and me...well, no one was asking me, as usual. Until I noticed that there was one boy that was watching me, and not my sister. He waited until I noticed him to approach me.

"He was a couple of years older...probably around eighteen like Melissa. But he danced with me, and we laughed and had fun." She paused again, swallowing and closing her eyes for a moment. "He asked me to go for a walk with him when it got a little later. Said it would be nice to get some fresh air. It was getting stuffy, so I agreed. But he ended up leading me further away from the church than I wanted to go, and when I started to suggest that we go back, he pushed me up against a tree and...and began to kiss me and..."

"You were raped...?" Mulder asked quietly, interrupting to save her from having to tell him the whole story. Dana finally allowed herself to look back at him and nodded slowly, desperately trying to wipe away the tears that were now flowing freely.

Standing, Mulder moved to her side of the booth and slid in next to her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in close to him. "I'm sorry that happened to you," he whispered into her ear, rocking her gently and brushing her hair softly. When she stopped shaking with silent sobs, he pulled back and looked at her, wiping any stray tears from her cheeks. "You said you had never had a boyfriend...you were a virgin, weren't you?" Dana nodded again, her eyes falling to his chest only to have him place a finger under her chin to bring her eyes up to look at him again. "Hey, there's no need to be ashamed," he insisted. "You were young, you probably weren't ready...I'm sorry he took that from you."He couldn't explain the anger he felt at this boy he had never even met before. Just the thought of him hurting Dana made him angry; she deserved so much more.

"Forgive me for asking," he started after another few moments of silence. "But why did you keep her? If it was rape, isn't she a painful reminder?"

Dana gave him a small smile and shook her head. "I'm Catholic, so I couldn't even imagine having an abortion," she answered quietly. "I did waver on the edge of adoption during my pregnancy, but I was never one hundred percent sure. She was born a month early, and it scared me, but when I held her in my arms, I knew I couldn't give her up. I loved her too much, despite what may have happened to me. She was innocent; what happened wasn't her fault, and I wanted her to grow up with her mother. I don't really like to think of it like this, but in a way, something good came out of a situation that was horrible."

Mulder nodded at her words and gave her a soft smile, pulling her in for another hug. "This doesn't make me like you any less," he whispered in her ear. "If anything, it only shows me how strong you are." It mustn't have been easy for her. Knowing her story now, he could see why she was so hesitant with him to begin with. She likely didn't let herself get close to men often because of what happened to her.

Dana held him tightly and blinked back tears, her chin resting on Mulder's shoulder. "Thank you..." she whispered back.


	6. Pasts and Presents

_Tuesday, 2 September 2014_

 _Campus Diner, University of Maryland_

 _1:30 pm_

The rest of their lunch date had gone smoothly after Dana told Fox about her daughter. Their conversation was in no way strained; in fact, Fox seemed interested to know more about Hannah, even mentioning that he would like to meet the toddler one day.

With her next class coming up at 2:00, Dana and Mulder left the diner together, Fox insisting on walking her to her next class. As they left, his hand immediately rested at the small of Dana's back, as if it was the most natural thing in the world and he had been doing it for years. Usually, such a gesture would have made Dana uncomfortable, but coming from this man, she found it sweet and anything but uncomfortable.

"Fox..." She finally said as they got closer to the building her final class was to be in. "You said you had to leave Oxford in order to help with family...can I ask what happened?" She stopped walking and slowly looked up to him, noticing the sad look that had come into his eyes.

"I suppose it's only fair that I tell my story now that you've told yours, huh?" He asked softly, his voice a little strained.

"I didn't mean it like..."

"No, I know," Mulder quickly interrupted. He gave her a soft smile, brushing a strand of her red hair behind her ear before leading her to a bench to sit down. "When I was twelve and my sister was eight, she was kidnapped from our house. She was gone for years, and her kidnapping put a lot of strain on my family. My parents divorced because of it, and I ran off to Oxford to get away from them as soon as I graduated.

"But at the beginning of the summer, I got a call from my mother telling me I needed to come home...because Samantha had been found. They found the guy who took her because he got caught kidnapping another girl...probably to add to the collection the FBI found in the bastard's basement," he added bitterly. He took in a deep breath and blinked a few times in an effort to keep his tears from falling. "My mother told me that the first person Samantha asked for in the hospital was me. I'm home because my sister needed my help in order to recover."

Dana watched him in shock, tears in her own eyes from his story. "Fox...I'm so sorry," she whispered softly as their hands found one another.

"She's doing a little better now," Mulder whispered, his thumb unconsciously rubbing circles on the soft skin of Dana's hand. "She was found at the end of May, and I think her therapy sessions over the summer helped her some, but she still gets nightmares or even flashbacks."

"That's understandable," Dana agreed softly, looking up into his eyes. All conversation stopped in that moment, and they simply watched one another silently. It was almost as if the conversation was continuing simply through the looks they were giving one another.

"Dana..." Fox whispered after a few moments, scooting a little closer on the bench and taking her free hand in his so he was holding both. "How is it that I have known you for a day and I feel like I can tell you things I never feel I can tell anyone?"

Dana took a shaky breath in and shook her head. "I don't know," she breathed, looking down to their hands. "I feel like I've known you forever..."

"Me too," Mulder agreed.

Silence once more washed over them, the two gradually getting closer together until there was no more space left between them. People continued to move around their bench and into the building behind them, trying to get to their next classes. Dana should have been one of those hurrying to class, but time had completely slipped her mind by that point.

Feeling Fox move, Dana brought her eyes up to meet his, almost gasping at the expression she was met with. There was so much tenderness and affection in his eyes; not love...it was far too soon for her to see love in his eyes-they would need to get to know one another better for that. Affection, however, that was certainly present. She held eye contact with him for a few moments until she realized his face was slowly getting closer to hers. Slowly, her eyes slipped closed as she felt his lips brush against hers in a soft, tender kiss.

She felt her heart swell with happiness; really, she had never had a first kiss...kissing was not something she had ever done before her rape, and not after either. Fox Mulder was her first kiss. It wasn't long, only a few seconds, but it still left her feeling lightheaded and happy. When it finished, Dana let her eyes slip open to look at the boy who had kissed her; he was giving her a soft smile, his fingers reaching out to brush her hair out of her face once more.

"I guess I should let you get to class now," he whispered regretfully. She didn't want to go either, but regardless, they stood together and headed into the building. When they got to the still open door of the lecture hall, they stopped, Fox once more taking Dana's hands. "I'll see you later," he whispered to her, giving her another soft kiss.

"I'll see you later," he whispered to her, giving her another soft kiss. There was a goofy smile on his face when he pulled away. "Believe me, Dana Scully...I think we'll definitely be seeing a lot more of one another." He really wasn't sure if he would be able to handle not being around her daily.

With one more tiny kiss, the two parted ways, Dana blushing and happy as she walked into class.

* * *

 _Tuesday, 2 September 2014_

 _Scully Residence_

 _5:30 pm_

At dinner that evening, Dana found herself daydreaming about her lunch and walk with Mulder, so much so that she barely registered any of the conversation at the table between her parents and twin brother as she placed a spoonful of peas on the tray of Hannah's highchair. After a few moments, a vibration from her phone alerted her and she looked down at it to see a text from the object of her daydreams himself.

 _Do you believe in the existence of extraterrestrials? ;)_

A big grin broke out on Dana's face and she couldn't help the small laugh that escaped her. As she picked up her phone, however, she realized how quiet the table had gotten and she looked up to find her parents and Charlie staring at her. "What...?" She asked slowly, her smile fading as she instantly withdrew into herself again.

Her mother had an amused expression on her face, while her father and Charlie merely looked confused. "I've been asking you questions for the past two minutes, Dana," her mother said with a small laugh. "Do you have something to share?" She asked, nodding to the phone in her daughter's hand.

A bright blush crawled its way into Dana's cheeks and she quickly shook her head. "I'm okay, thanks..." she mumbled quietly, setting the phone down and quickly shoveling some food into her mouth so she wouldn't have to speak as Charlie began to laugh and tease her about her blushing.

* * *

 _I apologize for the wait with this chapter, guys. I finished my spring semester for school, and then I moved into my new apartment, so I've been pretty busy. Hopefully, I can get chapters out a little more quickly now. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed thus far!_

 _I decided to have Samantha be kidnapped rather than abducted...no mythology arch here! I'm sorry this is a little short, I just felt this was a cute, kind of silly place to end this chapter :)_


	7. Strong

_Tuesday, 2 September 2014_

 _Scully Residence_

 _8:00 pm_

 _"'Why he looks just like my old Bunny that was lost when I had scarlet fever!'"_ Dana read, gently brushing her fingers through her daughter's short red curls as she flipped the page. _"But he never knew that it really was his own Bunny, come back to look at the child who had first helped him to be Real."_

Slowly closing _The Velveteen Rabbit,_ Dana looked down to Hannah lying in her arms. The little girl had drifted off to sleep, her head resting against her mother's chest and her thumb in her mouth. The image of her sleeping daughter brought a smile to Dana's face. Carefully, she set the book down on the table beside the rocking chair and reached for her phone, silently taking a picture of Hannah without moving her. Just as she put her phone into her pocket, she heard a noise by the door and looked up to see her mother leaning against the doorframe. Giving her a tiny smile, she stood with Hannah in her arms and moved to the crib, gently laying her down and covering her with a blanket.

"You never told me how it went today," she heard her mother say quietly in an attempt not to disturb Hannah. "I'm assuming well based on your daydreaming at dinner."

Dana felt a blush creep onto her cheeks at both the words and the amusement present in her mother's voice. She spent a moment longer than necessary tucking her daughter in, simply to avoid having to face her mother for another few seconds. "I suppose you could say it went well, yes," she whispered, a small smile playing on her lips as she ran her fingers through Hannah's hair again. The smile grew fonder as she thought back on her date that afternoon, and Mulder's never ending text messages to her since then.

Finally, she straightened up after giving Hannah one last kiss on the forehead. Grabbing the baby monitor, she turned and moved across the room to turn the light out, avoiding eye contact with her mother as she did so. She briefly glanced at her after it went dark, and then slowly began to move past her to her bedroom, turning the monitor on.

"Is that all you're going to give me, Dana?" Maggie asked as she followed her across the hall into her bedroom. "This is my baby's first date, and all I get is 'I suppose you could say it went well'?"

Letting out a sigh, Dana sat on her bed and looked up at her mother. "It's not _really_ my first date, mom," she corrected with a small roll of her eyes.

"Oh, please, Dana, one movie date with a boy from your class in sophomore year who was just as awkward as you doesn't count," Maggie insisted with a raised eyebrow as she took a seat next to her daughter. "I know for a fact you and that boy hardly said one word to each other." Poor Dana has been so quiet and shy...her rape had only made that worse for a while after it happened. Maggie was actually slightly surprised she appeared to have had such a good time with this Fox Mulder today.

Dana blushed a little again and then pursed her lips, looking down at her hands to once more avoid eye contact with her mother. "We talked about Hannah..." she said quietly after a few moments of silence. "And what happened that summer in Ireland." Her voice cracked as she said those words, tears prickling in her eyes even at the thought of that summer. "He was so understanding, mom," she added, her voice breaking more. "I think what upset him most, actually, was not the fact that I have a child, but the fact that I had been through what I have at my age...or at all." She shook her head and quickly tried to wipe away the tears that had started falling down her cheeks. No one should have to go through what she went through regardless of age.

Maggie watched her daughter sadly as she began to cry and gently wrapped her arms around her, rocking her slowly and rubbing her back. "It's okay to cry, my darling," she whispered in her ear. "Those are painful memories for you, and I'm sure they always will." She knew those same memories still caused her daughter to have nightmares. The poor girl had gone to therapy twice weekly while she was pregnant, and still went once a week. "I told you he might be understanding." She placed a small kiss to Dana's temple. "I don't even know this boy yet and it already seems like he cares about you a great deal."

Dana let out a sound between a laugh and a sob at those words, shaking her head as she clung to her mother. "He's so sweet and kind, mom...it almost feels as if I've known him forever," she whispered. "I don't know how to explain it. But it only makes me feel worse about the way I treated him yesterday when we first met. I was so rude, and he just continues to be the sweetest, kindest person I've ever met."

"Well, it certainly seems as if he forgives you if he wanted so badly to take you for coffee and for lunch," Maggie consoled with a smile. She gently pulled back slightly from Dana, brushing a few stray red curls away from her face and then wiping her tears. "Are you going to keep seeing him?" I certainly hope so, she thought to herself. They hadn't even known each other a day, and she could already tell that this boy was going to be good for Dana. She needed someone like him after what she had been through.

Dana gave a small nod, a smile finally appearing on her lips. "He told me that we'll be seeing a lot more of each other," she whispered, the smile growing as she thought back to those final few moments of their date. "And he told me that...that this doesn't make him like me any less...it just shows him how strong I am."

Maggie smiled at her daughter and wiped away a few more tears that had fallen. "He's right, you know," she whispered, kissing Dana's forehead gently. "You didn't let what happened defeat you. You didn't let the people at school defeat you. You kept on going, and you made the decision to raise Hannah yourself, even though it may have been painful...that proves that you are much stronger than anyone would think when they first look at you."

Dana's chin quivered a little bit as a lump once more rose in her throat. "I don't feel strong sometimes," she whimpered, her voice quivering as she spoke.

"Oh, baby..." Maggie whispered softly, wiping her tears again and pulling her close. "You are the strongest person I know. You may not feel strong at times, but you truly are. You're caring for a baby while going to college. If that's not strong, I don't know what is."

A small sob fell from Dana's lips at those words and she clung a little tighter to her mother. "As time goes on, Dana, the pain will become duller...especially if you have a boy like Fox to help you through everything," Maggie whispered, hugging her daughter tightly and rocking her as she cried.

A silence fell upon the two, the only sounds being those of Dana's soft sobs, and the quiet breaths coming from the baby monitor as Hannah slept. As Dana's tears began to subside, her grip around her mother loosened a bit and her eyes closed as she focused on her mother's fingers running through her hair comfortingly. "Will you be alright?" She heard her mother whisper after a few minutes of silence.

Dana gave a nod against her mother's shoulder, letting out a shaky breath and opening her eyes. "I love you, mom," she breathed softly, not moving from her position in her mother arms. It wasn't often that she allowed herself to be vulnerable around her family...this was actually one of the first times she had completely broken down since she told her family she was pregnant. Having Missy there to help her tell them had helped a little, but that in no way prevented the breakdown that came after. Since then, however, she often kept to herself and would only cry when she was alone. It made her wonder occasionally if her family really knew how much the incident had affected her.

"I love you too, baby," Maggie whispered quietly, kissing her head.

Finally, Dana began to pull away a little bit. "He told me...Fox...that his sister was kidnapped when he was twelve," she said after a few moments. "She was found in May, alive. That's why he had to come back from Oxford. His mother wanted him closer to home so he could help her."

Maggie stared at her daughter at those words. "Oh my," she whispered. "That poor family." She couldn't imagine what would have happened if one of her children had gone missing. "You two have something rather large in common, Dana." Both were so young and yet had known a tremendous amount of pain, if for different reasons. "I'm glad you two are being so open with one another. That's a good start."

Giving her mother a tiny smile, Dana nodded, taking her phone out and fiddling with it for a few moments. "He kissed me..." she whispered finally. A smile grew on her lips and she let out a tiny laugh. "I had my first kiss." Dana raised her eyes to look at her mother, only to burst into giggles when she saw her mother's shocked expression.

Maggie finally smiled a little bit. "Just don't let him push you into anything, Dana," she whispered. She didn't think she would. Considering her past, her daughter was cautious...perhaps maybe even too cautious at times, which was likely why it took her so long to have her first kiss. "But I'm happy for you, sweetheart."

Dana beamed, her cheeks coloured with happiness as her phone made a sound indicating that she had a message. She glanced at the screen and then up to her mother, a smile playing on her lips. It was from Fox. Again.

"Has he been talking to you all night?" Maggie asked in amusement.

With a small laugh, Dana nodded and opened the message.

 _Watcha dooooin'?_

Dana's smile grew and she shook her head at his goofiness. Just finished putting Hannah to bed and talking with mom, she texted back, attaching the picture she took earlier of Hannah asleep on her chest in the rocking chair.

Maggie gave her daughter a smile and one more kiss on the top of the head. "Goodnight, love," she whispered to her, getting up to leave the room.

"Night," Dana called after her mother, looking back to her phone as another message came in.

 _Awwwww_ , was all it read. Dana felt like her face was going to split in two the way she was smiling. A moment later, another message came in.

 _Told you she was as beautiful as her mother._

* * *

 _The quotes at the beginning of the chapter are from the very end of The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco. Once more, thank you to everyone who reviewed! It means a lot to me :)_


	8. Applesauce

_Wednesday, 3 September 2014_

 _Scully Residence_

 _6:45 am_

The next morning, Dana hurried downstairs, completely ready to leave for class save for eating breakfast. Wandering into the kitchen, she fixed her ponytail and gave a smile to her mother who stood at the counter fixing breakfast. She took a quick glance at the clock, taking a seat next to her daughter's high chair when she saw she still had time to sit and eat before she left.

"I trust you didn't stay up too late talking to that boy?" Maggie questioned as she set a plate of toast and scrambled eggs in front of Dana.

"Boy?" Dana heard her father's voice say just as she opened her mouth to reply to her mother. "What boy? My Starbuck is staying up late talking to a boy?" Bill Scully, Sr. looked between his wife and youngest daughter, taking his coffee from his wife and sitting across from Dana as he awaited an answer.

Studying her father's unreadable expression, Dana let out a sigh and glanced down at her plate to avoid his gaze. "Just...a boy in my first class. I didn't stay up late at all talking to him..." she muttered softly. That was a slight lie. It had been around midnight when she had finally convinced Fox that she needed to sleep. She picked up her napkin in the guise of wiping her mouth and quickly spoke the rest of her story into it, causing her words to be completely unintelligible to anyone but herself.

"Sorry, Starbuck, didn't quite catch that," Bill said in amusement, gesturing to the napkin at her mouth. "Seems there was something blocking any sound from coming through." He chuckled as Dana blushed, taking a bite of the breakfast Maggie had set in front of him.

With her attempt to get her father to drop the subject failed, Dana let out a shaky breath and closed her eyes. "He took me for coffee after class on Monday..." she started quietly, reluctantly. "And we went for lunch yesterday..."

Bill's expression was still unreadable as he watched his youngest daughter's blush darken her cheeks even more than they had been a moment before. "She forgot to mention that this is a boy she was completely open with," Maggie jumped in. "A boy who understands her situation and still likes her for who she is...baby or not."

Bill's eyes lit up in surprise at his wife's words, his eyebrows raising as he looked back to his daughter. "You told him everything, Starbuck?" he asked her quietly, his voice now tender.

Dana took in a deep breath and nodded slowly, nibbling a bit on the corner of her toast. Her appetite had left the minute her father had entered the kitchen and asked about the boy she was talking to. "I didn't want him to continue spending time with me when he didn't know the whole truth," she admitted softly. "Everyone else always stops spending time with me when they find out about Hannah...but he wanted to know the whole story." A watery smile grew on her lips and she let out a tiny laugh. "He was more upset that someone had the nerve to hurt me like that than anything, daddy..."

She still hadn't made eye contact with her father, and simply continued studying her breakfast as though it was some unknown specimen. "And this boy understands your responsibilities?" She heard him say after a few moments. Dana simply nodded silently in response and continued to study her food.

Her mother knowing of her new potential relationship-her _first_ potential relationship-was one thing, but her father was entirely another. Really, she wasn't sure she had been ready for him to know anything about this yet; she had wanted to give it a little more time before she let him know, preferably when she and Fox knew exactly what they were and not just two people who went on dates. She was daddy's little girl, and she had already disappointed him once when she had announced her extremely unplanned pregnancy. She didn't want to disappoint him again. "I really like him, daddy," she whispered after a few moments of silence. "And I know he likes me too. He said what happened doesn't make him like me any less. It just shows him how strong I am."

It was quiet for a few moments and Dana finally risked looking up at her parents. Her mother was now sitting next to her father giving her a reassuring smile. When she moved her eyes over to meet her father's gaze, she noticed his eyes had become more tender and a small smile had appeared on his lips. In all honesty, Bill Scully had been worried that what had happened to his daughter would cause her to never want to be with anyone at all, and yet here she was, confessing to liking a boy who liked her back.

Apparently deciding it had been quiet long enough, Hannah let out a squeal, reaching out to run her applesauce-covered hand down her mother's cheek. Completely taken by surprise, Dana let out a cry at the feeling of the cold, sticky substance on her skin. This simply caused Hannah to giggling, clapping her hands when her grandparents joined in with their own laughter.

"It's not funny!" Dana cried with a laugh, getting up to grab a washcloth from beside the sink. She quickly wet it and ran it down her applesauce-covered cheek. When she opened her eyes, she caught sight of the time and gasped. "I have to go or I'll be late!" She said quickly, throwing the washcloth on the counter and moving to kiss her daughter on the head.

"But Dana, you should at least take a few seconds to eat your breakfast, you've hardly touched it!" Maggie protested, gesturing to her nibbled toast and untouched eggs.

"I'll grab a muffin when I get my coffee, mom," she reassured her, picking up her bag and keys and starting out the kitchen door.

"Starbuck," Bill called after his daughter. Dana stopped in the doorway and turned to look at her father. "Tell this boy I want to meet him before I go out to sea again on Saturday," he told her with a smile and a wink.

Dana's eyes widened but she nodded nonetheless and started to turn out the door again. "And Starbuck," she heard her father call again. Sighing, she turned around again. "You be careful. Don't let that boy make you do anything you don't want to do...don't let him hurt you." His eyes were sad as he said those words and Dana's face softened.

"I don't think he would ever hurt me, Ahab," she told him with a tiny smile. "He's been hurt too much himself in his lifetime to do that to me. But I'll be careful."

That seemed to satisfy her father as he gave her a small smile and turned back to his breakfast. Finally, Dana turned and headed out the door to her car.

* * *

 _Wednesday, 3 September 2014_

 _University of Maryland_

 _7:56 am_

Unlike the first day of class, Dana actually managed to arrive in the lecture hall before the class started. When she entered the room, she saw Fox already sitting in the same spot at the back of the room that they had occupied on the first day. Giving him a soft smile when he caught sight of her, she moved to the row he was in and sat next to him, setting her coffee down and pulling her notebook out as she did so.

"Look, we're both on time today," Fox whispered in her ear as she pulled the muffin she bought out of her bag and set it on the table next to her coffee. Fox eyes the muffin and then raised his eyebrows at Dana. "Breakfast on the go?" he asked.

Dana set her lips into a line and nodded. "My mother chose breakfast to mention the fact that I had been texting a boy all day and my dad just so happened to walk in as she said it," she explained quietly. "Needless to say, I was subjected to a sort of interrogation and didn't actually get to eat my breakfast before I had to leave."

Fox went a little pale at the mention of her father and the word 'interrogation'. "He's not happy his little girl has been hanging out with a boy, I take it?" he asked nervously. He had to say that he couldn't blame the man, especially with what had happened to his daughter two years back. He would be asking about any boy that was trying to spend time with her too.

Dana shook her head. "Oh no, he's fine now," she assured him with a smile. "I think more than anything he was worried about me getting hurt again." In fact, she _knew_ that was exactly what he was worried about now, after his parting words to her. "He seemed fine when I mentioned our conversation about what happened to me yesterday, though." She noticed Fox relax at those words and colour come back into his face. She took in a shaky breath and blushed a little at the thought of her next words. "He seemed even better when I mentioned that I liked you..." she whispered, casting a shy, sideways glance at him.

Fox looked at her in surprise and then smiled. "You like me?" he asked, the goofy grin she had come to adore so much in the last two days returning to his face. She nodded, picking at her muffin shyly under his gaze. "I like you too...but I think you already knew that."

Dana blushed some more and then smiled up at him. He returned her smile, but it fell after a moment and he reached out to touch something on her jaw. "Dana, what is this?" he asked, wiping the applesauce she had missed in her hasty clean-up from her jaw and studying it silently. After a moment, he licked it and then smirked as Dana's mouth dropped open in shock and amusement. "Looks like some of your breakfast ended up on your face and decided to come to class with you," he teased, causing Dana to blush, but this time in embarrassment. Talking to a boy with applesauce on her face was certainly something she had never wanted to do.

She chuckled quietly in embarrassment and shook her head. "Hannah's breakfast," she explained. "She decided to wipe it down my face to get everyone's attention. I guess I missed some when I tried to wipe it off." She paused and gave him a funny look. "Fox, why would you put that in your mouth, you had no clue what it was!"

The goofy grin simply returned to his face and he shrugged, gesturing to the front of the class as the professor started lecturing.

* * *

 _9:00 am_

When the class finished, Dana and Fox walked out of the class together, close enough that their shoulders were almost touching. "Does Hannah fall asleep like that every night?" Fox asked curiously as they moved to sit somewhere together since they both had free time before their next class.

"Like what?"

Fox shrugged and pulled out his phone, showing her the picture. "Resting against your chest with her thumb in her mouth and her mouth slightly open?"

Dana laughed at the picture, shaking her head. "Most of the time, yes," she said with a smile. "That thumb usually stays in her mouth the whole night too, no matter how many times we try to take it out. After reading up on it a little bit though, and talking to her paediatrician, I stopped trying to stop her from doing it. Apparently it doesn't do as much harm to a child's mouth as people think it does, and the doctor says she'll grow out of it."

Fox watched her fondly as she spoke of her daughter, seeing clearly how much she loved the little girl just by the way she spoke. "She really is the most adorable baby I've ever seen, Dana," he said, smiling when she blushed again. "She really takes after you."

"Thank you," she breathed softly. "I'm glad she looks like me...from what I've noticed so far, she looks nothing like...like _he_ did. Although he had red hair too, but Mom swears she has the exact same shade of red I had at that age."

Nodding, Fox pulled out a chair for Dana at a table and then sat down across from her, taking her hands in his. "That's good, she doesn't have any of his features to remind you of him," he agreed quietly.

Dana nodded and then took in a deep breath as she looked down to her hands. "Fox...my father wants to meet you before he goes to sea again," she told him quietly, her voice shaking nervously. "You don't have to..."

Fox looked at her in surprise, but then quickly shook his head. "No, I want to," he assured her quickly. "To sea?"

"He's a Navy captain," Dana explained, relaxing visibly at his words. "But...he's leaving on Saturday. I really didn't want him to know this early...I don't want you to feel pressured or anything...I mean...we're not even officially anything." She turned bright red and let out a breathy, embarrassed laugh, pulling her hands from him and covering her face. "Oh, god," she groaned.

Chuckling, Fox took her hands back in his. "Dana...I would love to meet your family," he assured her once more. "And...if you want to at least, I want to be able to call you my girlfriend."

Bringing her eyes back up to meet him, her eyes lit up, her cheeks still a shade of pink. "Really?" Fox nodded, smiling at her as he gently caressed her cheek. "So...Friday, then? Six o'clock?"

Fox gave another nod. "You'll see me there," he whispered before leaning in and giving her a gentle kiss.


	9. Hannah

_Friday, 5 September 2014_

 _Scully Residence_

 _5:30 pm_

Come Friday, Dana found herself in the kitchen helping her mother prepare dinner before Fox arrived at six. When she first saw him that morning, she could immediately tell that the nerves had finally hit him. Gone was the boy who had been looking forward to meeting her family and in his place was left one who was actually rather anxious about the whole situation. By the time both of their classes had finished, poor Fox had even tried to convince Dana to just take him home with her then so he wouldn't have to wait it out until six o'clock alone. Dana had almost given in to him and his sad puppy eyes but eventually managed to convince him that he had nothing to worry about. With her advice to do something to pass the time until he could come over, Fox had nervously allowed Dana to get in her car and head home alone.

Now, as she helped her mother, Dana couldn't help but wonder if Fox would actually survive the wait. She hadn't once seen him act like that; clearly, he wanted to make a good impression so badly that he was allowing himself to overthink the meeting far more than he needed to. When she told him he had nothing to worry about, she hadn't been lying; although her father still worried about her getting hurt again, she knew after her talk with him that he was looking forward to meeting Fox.

"You're absolutely positive Fox will be okay with lasagna, Dana?" Maggie asked for around the third time since they had begun cooking. Dana smirked slightly in amusement as her mother moved the covered lasagna dish into the oven. "It would be so much more helpful if I actually knew what the boy liked."

Chuckling slightly, Dana shook her head. "Mom, he's a guy," she stated. "Bill and Charlie will eat anything, as will most other guys. I'm sure he'll just be grateful for a home-cooked meal." Maggie opened her mouth to try to say something again and Dana quickly continued. "Besides, mom, it's way too late now to do anything else. It will be fine."

She almost rolled her eyes as she said those words, moving to sit on the kitchen floor next to Hannah who was playing on a blanket. "God, I feel like I've been assuring everyone that it will be fine all day," she mumbled.

"What was that, Dana?" Maggie asked, distractedly checking the temperature on the oven to be sure she had put it in right.

Dana opened her mouth to speak, only to close it again when she heard the doorbell ring. "Nothing," she dismissed, standing from the floor and moving to exit the kitchen. "I'll get it!" She called to prevent her father or her brother Charlie from answering the door. Opening the door, she found Fox Mulder standing there, a goofy grin on his face and a bouquet of flowers in his hand. "You're early," Dana observed, her tone amused.

Fox's smile faltered slightly and his let out a sheepish laugh. "Uh...yeah," he agreed nervously. "I was going crazy just waiting around my apartment..." Suddenly, the tips of his ears went red and he scuffed his foot against the porch. "Actually, I probably would have been an hour early, but I drove around your neighbourhood in circles for a while."

At those words, Dana laughed and shook her head, pulling him inside and closing the door. "You spent half an hour driving around my neighbourhood?"

Blushing, Fox nodded. "I could have gone longer, but I think one of your neighbours thought I was scoping out a robbery or something so I had to stop and come inside to avert suspicion."

Dana grinned at Fox and stood on her toes to press a kiss to his cheek. "Well, I'm glad you're here, early or not," she whispered to him. Pulling back, she looked to the bouquet in his hand. "Are these for me?" She breathed softly, reaching out to gently stroke the petals on one of the flowers.

The grin returning, Fox nodded and held them out to her. "I wasn't sure what you liked, so I got daffodils," he said softly as Dana took the bouquet of white and yellow daffodils from him and smelled them. "Mainly because I was inspired by Wordsworth's poem of the same name."

Surprised, Dana looked up to him. "I love them, Fox," she whispered, a fond smile playing on her lips. "Actually...you lucked out; daffodils are my favourites. Although I can't say I know the poem. I didn't know you were a literature man."

"It was my minor at Oxford," he told her, taking her hand.

"Your minor?" She asked with interest, gently swinging their intertwined hands. "Fox Mulder, you just keep unfolding like a flower."

Fox laughed out loud at his girlfriend's simile and shook his head, brushing back a strand of her red hair. Dana smiled at his laugh, leaning slightly into his hand. "Mom just put the lasagna into the oven, so it will still be a while before we eat," Dana informed him. "I hope that's okay."

Giving her a smile, Fox nodded. He started to say something and then stopped when something caught his eye over Dana's shoulder. There, peeking around the doorway of the kitchen, stood a tiny little girl, her thumb in her mouth and a shy expression on her face. "And you must be Hannah," he said softly to her, causing the child's eyes to grow wide.

At the mention of her daughter, Dana turned around and smiled at the adorable sight of her little girl shying away from Fox in the doorway. Glancing at Fox, her smile only grew; he looked like a child who had just found a bunny in the backyard and was trying desperately to get it to come closer without scaring it away. Finally, she looked back to her daughter and knelt down on the floor, opening her arms to her. "Come here, sweetheart," she said softly.

Almost immediately after her mother spoke, Hannah moved from her spot and ran as fast as her little legs would carry her into her mother's arms, burying her face in her neck. Chuckling, Dana stood, Hannah in one arm while she still held the flowers in the other. Seeing her struggle, Fox gently took the flowers back from her, giving Hannah a smile when he caught her peeking over her mother's shoulder at him. He gave her a wave, which immediately caused the little girl to giggle shyly and hide her face in her mother's neck again.

Smiling at the interaction between the two, Dana shifted Hannah in her arms. "Hannah, this is mommy's friend," she said softly to the girl, brushing her red curls off her face. "His name is Fox." The little girl raised her head to study her mother for a moment before switching her gaze to study the man behind her.

Smiling, Fox moved a little closer to Hannah. "Hi Hannah," he greeted. "I'm very excited to meet you." Unsure, he cast a look over to Dana, who gave him an encouraging smile. He was a little out of his element; he was never around kids much in recent years, especially not a kid as tiny as Hannah Scully. But he really wanted to know this little girl.

After a few moments of studying him, Hannah looked to her mother again and then back to Fox before trying to throw herself out of her mother's arms and into his. Dana gasped and adjusted her hold on the girl to make sure she didn't drop her, and then began laughing at the shocked expression on Mulder's face. "It's okay, Fox," she assured him. "She's decided she likes you enough to let you hold her."

"O-oh..." Fox stuttered nervously before placing the flowers on a nearby end table and slowly holding his arms out for the girl. When Dana released the child into his waiting arms, he tensed up and took a deep breath.

"Relax, Fox," Dana told him softly, moving to his side. "She's not going to break."

He nodded slowly and allowed himself to relax a little, a smile finally growing on his face when Hannah snuggled into him. Gently, he rocked her for a moment and then looked back to Dana. "Does she talk...?" He asked curiously. "I know some kids start pretty early."

Dana smiled and shook her head. "The extent of her vocabulary is 'mum-mum-mum'," she said with a chuckle. "Exactly like that. It's always three 'mums' in a row."

Fox chuckled and gently brushed the baby's curls back as he had seen Dana do a few moments earlier. "She's beautiful, Dana," he whispered. "I know I've told you that already, but now I've really seen her...and I have to tell you again."

A blush slowly grew on Dana's cheeks and she let out a bashful laugh, moving closer to Fox again so they were now almost close enough to touch noses. Fox leaned his head down slightly, causing Dana's eyes to flutter shut and her breath to hitch in her throat. A brief moment before their lips were about to meet, they heard someone clearing their throat from the doorway.

* * *

 _So this is a bit of a shorter chapter, but I wanted to split Mulder meeting her family up into two separate chapters. Also, I realized as I was writing this that one of the lines I wrote for Dana was actually something Scully said in the show. Complete coincidence, but I found it rather funny! Thank you to everyone who reviewed, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. Until next time!_


	10. Family

_Friday, 5 September 2014_

 _Scully Residence_

 _5:45 pm_

A brief moment before their lips were about to meet, they heard someone clearing their throat from the doorway, causing Dana and Fox to quickly jump apart. Dana's face immediately turned a shade of red to envy a tomato when she caught sight of her parents and Charlie standing in the doorway of the kitchen with looks of amusement on her mother and brother's faces, and an unreadable expression on her father's. Her embarrassment increased when she realized their expressions likely meant they had all seen her and Fox on the brink of kissing; that was exactly the first impression she wanted her father to have of her boyfriend. She had only told her mother they had kissed before...it wasn't exactly something she wanted Ahab knowing yet. It was better if he got to know him first; she wanted him to see exactly what made her like him.

"Well, Dana..." Maggie started, an amused smirk on her face. "Were you ever planning on introducing us, or were the two of you just going to remain in the foyer all night?"

"I think she would keep him to herself all night if she could, mom," Charlie snorted, causing Dana's blush to darken at the implication in her brother's words.

"Charles!" Maggie exclaimed in horror, slapping his arm. Charlie cried out in surprise at the action, rubbing his arm and mumbling something to himself about it being the truth. "Excuse him. I'm Maggie Scully," she added, looking to Fox with a smile.

Fox couldn't help but smile at the interactions of the family, despite being embarrassed by some of the comments as well; they were interactions he never quite experienced in his own family, so it was nice to experience them here. Giving Maggie a small smile at the introduction, he gently handed Hannah over to Dana so he could shake her hand. However, when he stepped in to shake her hand, Maggie pulled him in for a hug instead, causing Fox to tense a little in shock. After a moment, he relaxed a little and slowly wrapped his arms around the woman to return the hug.

"Welcome to our home, Fox," Maggie whispered in his ear before pulling back with a smile.

Fox shifted his weight a little, a blush growing on his cheeks as he gave the woman a bashful smile. "Thanks, Mrs. Scully..."

"Ah, none of that," Maggie scolded quickly. "It's just Maggie, dear." She had a good feeling that she would be seeing a lot of this boy, and when she did, she didn't want to hear Mrs. Scully coming out of his mouth. One day, she hoped she could convince him to call her mom.

"I'm not sure Dana would appreciate you scaring the poor boy off the first time we meet him, Maggie," Bill Scully finally interjected, chuckling quietly at his wife. Maggie looked to her husband and then noticed the mortified look on Dana's face and the look of shock on Fox's. Charlie's expression was all amusement, even more so than when they caught his sister almost kissing her boyfriend.

"Yes, mom, you did announce that last thought about Fox one day calling you mom out loud," Charlie chuckled. He was enjoying this meeting far too much for Dana's liking. So far, everyone seemed out to jeopardize her relationship tonight, except perhaps her father...although, he hadn't said much yet.

Taking a deep breath, Dana looked to Fox and gave him an apologetic look, to which he answered with a reassuring smile; it would take a lot more than that to scare him off. His expression slowly fell, however, when he turned to look at his girlfriend's father for the first time, his eyes, widening as he took in a deep, nervous breath.

"William Scully," the man extended his hand for Fox to shake, noticing him gulp and shift his weight again. "It's okay, son, I'm not going to bite you," Billy chuckled.

Fox smiled a bit at those words; son...he called him son. That was something his own father had stopped calling him after his sister was kidnapped...it was something he was almost sure his father stopped thinking of him as after that as well. And when his parents divorced, he never really even saw the man again. Not that he minded, of course. At least he didn't have to deal with the consequences of the drunken habits he had picked up after Sam was taken. Two years ago, those drunken habits were what got him killed in a car accident...a car accident that he caused. As indifferent as he had grown toward the man over the years, he couldn't help but feel sorry that he hadn't lived to see Samantha found and returned to them.

Finally, he took a step forward to shake the hand of Dana's father. "It's very nice to meet you, sir," he said politely.

Bill shook his head. "You can call me Bill, or you can call me William, son," he corrected. "Sir isn't necessary. Makes me feel like I'm at work." Fox nodded in response and Bill gave him a smile. "Just remember, though, if you do anything to hurt my little girl, I will do a whole lot worse than bit you. Is that clear?"

Fox's eyes had widened again in fear at those words. "Y-yes, sir," he squeaked before glancing to Dana.

"Ahab..." she scolded softly, her expression now partly mortified and partly upset. Her father had told her mother not to scare Fox off, and yet here he was, doing exactly that. She had known this whole dinner had been a bad idea from the start.

"It's okay, Dana," Fox whispered to her before looking back to her father. "I promise you, sir...Bill," he quickly corrected himself. "I never have any intention of hurting Dana." He looked down at her and smiled softly, fighting the urge to press a kiss to her forehead. "She means too much to me."

Dana looked up to meet his eyes and blushed at the sincerity she saw there, the expression causing her breath to catch in her throat. There was a clearing of the throat once more, and the two turned to look at Charlie who was standing there with an expectant look on his face. "And of course, Charlie has already made himself known to you through his lewd comments," Dana finally spoke with a roll of her eyes. "He's my pesky younger brother, as I'm sure you've deduced."

"Yeah, by five minutes, Dana," Charlie mumbled with a roll of his eyes. "Doesn't stop people from thinking I'm older when we stand next to one another. It doesn't matter if you graduated a year before me."

Fox raised his eyebrows as Charlie spoke, looking to Dana in surprise. "Why didn't you tell me you were a twin, Red?" he asked, gently nudging her shoulder with his.

Dana scoffed slightly and shook her head. "That's because it never came up," she replied, nudging his shoulder back. Fox once more nudged her shoulder, causing Hannah to shriek with laughter in her mother's arms. Noticing the shocked expression on Fox's face, Dana broke into laughter as well, Fox joining in a few moments later.

As they laughed, they hadn't noticed Maggie enter the kitchen and return a few moments later. "Alright, you two," she said as she returned to the foyer. "You can continue this later. Right now, dinner is ready. Go wash up."

Watching her parents move into the dining room, Dana turned and gave Fox a smile. "You know, I was nervous about this before, but I'm really glad you're here now," she whispered, leaning in close to him. "Even if my family is likely going to continue embarrassing us."

Fox chuckled and shook his head. " _You_ were nervous?" he asked incredulously. "You weren't the one who had to meet your girlfriend's family for the first time." He gave her a smile and gently kissed her cheek. "I'm glad to be here too. Really." He gave Dana another smile and wrapped his arms around her so Hannah was in between them, gently rocking as they embraced before dropping a kiss to the top of her head.

Suddenly there was a scoff behind them. "You two are disgusting," Charlie grumbled, laughing as he ducked away from Dana's fist.

"Oh, and you and Sarah aren't?" Dana challenged with a raised eyebrow, referring to the girl Charlie started dating at the beginning of his senior year who chose to attend the University of Maryland this year just because that was where Charlie was going.

"Hey, there's a difference between cute and disgusting!" Charlie defended, holding his hands up before running away laughing when Dana attempted to hit him again.

Dana shook her head and looked back up at Fox. "Come on, let's go wash up," she told him softly, adjusting Hannah in her arms as she led him into the bathroom around the corner. Gently, she sat Hannah on the counter, picking up the bottle of soap. "Hands please, Miss Hannah," she requested, nodding her head to the little girl's hands. Hannah grinned up at her mother, showing off the four front teeth she had, and showed her mother her hands, giggling when Dana turned them palm up for her and pumped a glob of soap into them. She pumped some soap into her own hand before putting the bottle down and turning back to her daughter. "Can you rub them together?" Dana asked, rubbing the soap in her hands to show the little girl. When Hannah copied, Dana gave her an enthusiastic smile. She quickly rinsed and dried her own hands and then picked up Hannah who was still rubbing and helped her rinse as well.

The entire time, Fox watched the process mesmerized. It was amazing to him that Dana knew how to do all this. Just watching her with her daughter only made him love her more. _Wait, love? Slow down there, Fox, you've only known this girl a few days,_ he reminded himself, only to come back with, _But I've never felt like this about any other girl before._

"Fox," Dana called, pulling him out of his trance. She was wearing an amused expression on her face, making Fox wonder if he'd said any of that out loud. That was the last thing he needed right now. He couldn't tell her he loved her too soon or he could risk the entire relationship. Even he knew it was too soon for that, despite how quickly their relationship appeared to be moving. "Are you going to stand there gawking all night, or are you going to wash your hands so we can eat?" she asked with a chuckle.

Blushing, Fox cleared his throat in embarrassment and stepped forward to wash his hands like Dana and Hannah had just done. Drying up, he turned back to Dana with a small smile. "Let's go, I'm starved," he claimed in an overly dramatic voice as he rubbed his stomach. Laughing and shaking her head, Dana led him out of the bathroom and down the hall into the dining room.

"Finally! We were wondering if you'd gotten lost on the perilous journey from the bathroom to the dining room," Charlie teased. "We almost sent out a search party. All the king's horses, and all the king's men."

Dana rolled her eyes at her brother again, sitting Hannah in her high chair. "We're not Humpty Dumpty, Charlie," she sighed, smiling as she looked to Fox. "I hope you like lasagna because mom's been worrying about it all day," she said with a smile as she sat next to the high chair and pulled out the chair beside her for Fox.

"Oh, don't over exaggerate, Dana..." Maggie mumbled, causing Dana to raise an eyebrow. She truly hadn't been over exaggerating at all. Her mother had been worrying since she woke up that morning and had changed her mind no less than five times before settling on the first thing she had thought of anyway.

Fox chuckled and sat next to Dana. "Don't worry, Maggie, lasagna is actually a favourite of mine," he said with a smile, Maggie almost immediately relaxing. "My mom hasn't made it in years..." Or any meal, really. "And I don't think I've had it since long before I left for Oxford."

"Oxford?" Bill asked as he cut up his food, Maggie dishing some up for Fox while Dana cut some into tiny enough pieces for Hannah before putting it on the high chair's tray in front of her daughter.

Fox gave Maggie a smile a thanked her. "Yes, I went to Oxford for the first three years of my undergrad," he explained. "I'm in my final year now, but...well, I had to come home due to a family thing."

"Yes, Dana mentioned to me that your sister was kidnapped when she was young. She was found this year, right?" Maggie questioned gently.

Fox looked to Dana and gave her a small smile, taking her hand and squeezing it to let her know he was fine with her telling her mother. In fact, he was happy Dana could trust her mother so much to talk to her. He had no one like that...at least, he hadn't had anyone like that until he met Dana. "Yeah, that's why I decided on coming to the University of Maryland. Samantha needed me nearby, and it's not too far from Martha's Vineyard, where I'm from, but still far enough to allow me to keep the independence I had while at Oxford."

Bill looked at the boy sympathetically. He had a past about as difficult as Dana's...he could see why the two had gravitated together so easily. Just watching the two of them together, it almost seemed as if they had known one another for far longer than under a week. "Her disappearance must have been hard on your family," he stated softly.

"It was..." Fox started quietly, trying to swallow the lump that was slowly growing in his throat. "My family basically fell apart, actually. My parents divorced when I was sixteen, and my mom has been on antidepressants for years. My aunt has actually been living with her and Samantha for a while now so she can help out." His mother wasn't always the most functional person in the world. He had almost entirely cared for himself since Samantha had disappeared. She was getting better now that Samantha was back, but she would likely never be the way she was before Sam had been taken.

Dana watched Fox quietly as he spoke of his family, her eyes growing sad. She could see the tears growing in her eyes, and she knew she needed to do something. She knew there was more to the story of his family that he hadn't yet told her; he had so much sadness in his eyes, there was no way there wasn't more. Plus, he had never really mentioned his father to her. Taking a deep breath, she took his hand and squeezed it tightly, giving him a sympathetic smile when he looked at her. " Charlie, how is your first week of college going?" she asked after a few moments of silence in an attempt to change the subject. Charlie started to prattle on about his first week at the university, Dana not moving her gaze from Fox's. He was giving her a grateful smile, to which she answered with a small nod.

Something warm touched Dana's cheek and she looked at her daughter to noticed her hands covered in lasagna, as well as her grinning face. The baby let out a giggle, and Dana raised her hand to her cheek to find lasagna on her face as well. "Hannah..." she groaned as her family began laughing.

"Dana..." Fox whispered in her ear, getting her to face him. "You've got something on your face." He scooped up some of the lasagna from her face and put it in his mouth. This time, Dana joined in the laughter.


	11. Bedtime

_Friday, 5 September 2014_

 _Scully Residence_

 _7:45 pm_

The rest of dinner went as well as Dana could have anticipated it to. Her family had insisted that she and Fox spend some time talking with them in the family room after dinner and, despite Dana wishing to spend some time talking with Mulder alone, they followed them into the family room.

Now, nearly an hour later, Dana looked over to Fox while Charlie argued with their parents about Sarah coming for Thanksgiving (which was still too far away for him to worry about it, in her opinion). Hannah had crawled into his lap a half hour ago and was now cuddled in close against his chest, Fox gently resting his cheek on the baby's head as he rubbed her back. The scene caused a smile to grow on Dana's face; she almost hated to disturb it, but she reached out to gently touch her boyfriend's arm regardless.

"Fox," she whispered softly. He raised his head slowly to look up at her, returning the smile he saw Dana giving him. "Looks like it's time for bed," she added softly, gently rubbing his arm.

A look of confusion and alarm crossed Fox's face. "Wh-what?" he stuttered, causing Dana to blush furiously when she realized how he had taken the words. She let out a small, awkward laugh and shook her head, nodding to Hannah in his arms. The girl was sucking her thumb and trying to fight sleep, her eyes occasionally fluttering shut and then snapping back open again. "Ohh..." Fox whispered in understanding, visibly relaxing.

Dana smiled and nodded, standing and gently lifting Hannah from his arms. She cradled her daughter for a moment, swaying gently with her and hushing her softly as she whimpered. Brushing her curls back from the baby's forehead as she quieted down once more, she leaned in to kiss her, holding her close. Dana looked to her mother, catching her eye and then nodding to the stairs to let her know that she was heading up with Hannah. A moment later, she turned to leave the room, leaving Fox sitting there awkwardly, unsure of whether or not he was supposed to follow her. "Fox," heard, looking up to see Dana watching him questioningly from the doorway. "Are you coming?"

A moment later, she turned to leave the room, leaving Fox sitting there awkwardly, unsure of whether or not he was supposed to follow her. "Fox," heard, looking up to see Dana watching him questioningly from the doorway. "Are you coming?"

Breathing a sigh of relief, Fox jumped up and followed his girlfriend up the stairs to the nursery. He stopped in the doorway when they got there, smiling as he studied the room. The entire thing was Winnie the Pooh themed—not the newer characters from the Disney cartoon, but the old hand-drawn book characters. The walls were painted to fit the theme, with a tree added in beside the white crib with a branch extended over it. Pooh himself sat on the branch over the crib with Piglet beside him, honey dripping from the pot he held. Finally, his eyes landed on the rocking chair in the corner Dana had moved to sit in, cradling the sleepy one-year-old in her arms while she rocked.

"You wore her out..." she whispered with a smile as the girl fell asleep against her chest. "I don't even have to read to her tonight."

Fox smiled softly, letting his eyes wander over the nursery once more as he approached the chair. "Did you do this?" he asked quietly as he came to a stop beside the chair.

Looking up, Dana gave him a smile and shook her head. "I cannot draw or paint to save my life," she explained with a quiet chuckle, careful not to disturb her sleeping daughter. "My sister Melissa did it. Mom helped. I wasn't allowed to even step foot in here until they had finished it. They even locked the door."

Fox sat down on the floor next to the chair, gently touching Hannah's soft curls. "That's understandable," he said softly. "Aren't pregnant women not supposed to be around paint fumes?"

Dana looked to him in surprise at those words. "Yeah, uh...yeah that's true. It's best to take precautions and have someone else do the painting," she confirmed, baffled he had known something like that. "But they painted it after she was born. Since I had been considering adoption on and off during my pregnancy, there was really no point in getting a nursery ready before her birth."

Fox nodded slowly, watching her stand and move to the changing table to change Hannah's diaper and put her in pyjamas. "I remember you mentioning that," he said softly.

"They started it while we were still in the hospital. We were kept for a few extra days since she was early; the doctors wanted to make sure she was actually okay to go," Dana explained, gently lifting a now pyjama-clad Hannah and carrying her to the crib. "They didn't want me to know at all until it was done, but I had made a panic when I got home and realized that I actually had nothing for Hannah." She chuckled and shook her head. "The only way Mom was able to calm me down was telling me that they had started getting the room across from mine ready for her and that they had set up a bassinet in my room for her first few weeks."

Smiling at the story, Fox stood slowly from the floor. "It's nice that they did that for you," he said softly. "They really could have just bought a crib and a few things and put it in a plain old room, but they went all out."

Dana nodded and smiled. "Mom and Missy were always the artsy ones, so I think they enjoyed the project," she smiled, leaning over to tuck a blanket securely around Hannah in the crib and then press a gentle kiss to her forehead.

"Sweet dreams, little one," she whispered, pressing one more kiss to her head. When she turned around to look at Fox, she caught him watching her exchange with her daughter again and smiled. "You've really enjoyed watching me with her tonight, haven't you?" she asked in a soft whisper, stepping into his arms and wrapping her own around his torso.

Smiling, Fox held her close to him, resting his chin on her head gently. "It's beautiful," he whispered. "I knew how much you loved her just from the way you spoke of her, but seeing the love you have while you get her ready for bed, or clean her up for dinner...it's a whole other level." He pulled back slightly and looked down at her. "You're amazing, Dana," he whispered as he gently raised her head to look at him with a finger under her chin.

For a moment, the two remained silent; simply communicating through the eye contact they were currently making was enough for them. The intensity and emotion Dana saw in Fox's eyes caused her to blush, eventually causing her to look away. "Do you want to head across the hall so we can talk a little more?" She asked him softly, allowing herself to make eye contact with him again.

Gently, he brushed a lock of Dana's red hair behind her ear, causing her breath to catch and her tongue to make a brief swipe over her lips. "Can I say goodnight to her?" Fox asked softly, nodding toward the crib where Hannah was sleeping.

A look of surprise crossed Dana's face, quickly followed by a small smile as she gave him a nod. She watched as he moved past her and back to the crib, his hand gently reaching into the crib to brush Hannah's short curls away gently. "Thanks for sharing your toys with me tonight, Hannah," she heard him whisper. She covered her mouth with her hand, trying to prevent herself from laughing at his choice of words. "Sweet dreams." The vision of Fox Mulder leaning in and giving her daughter a small kiss on the forehead cured her urge to laugh. A feeling of awe overcame her and she felt unexpected tears sting her eyes. This man that she had just met four days before had just given her daughter a goodnight kiss; he had played with her after dinner, and let her fall asleep on him when the playing finally wore her out.

This man she had known for five days had just acted like the closest thing Hannah would ever have to a father.

"You okay?"

Dana jumped a little and looked up to find Fox now standing in front of her. "Yeah," she breathed quietly, quickly wiping her hands over her face when she realized her tears had actually fallen. "Yeah, I'm just fine." She gave him a smile and gently took his hands. "Just...thank you. You've been so kind to her all night. You didn't...I hope I didn't make you feel like you had to kiss her goodnight."

Fox gave her a smile and wiped a few more tears from Dana's cheeks. "I wanted to," he told her softly. "You've got a wonderful little girl, Dana. I can't explain it, but I felt like it was something I should do. It's like how I can't explain why I feel so close to you already. I feel a connection with the two of you."

Taking in a shaky breath, Dana gave him a smile and nodded. "Thank you," she whispered again, leaning in to press a kiss to his lips.

She wouldn't say this to him yet, but it almost felt as if they were a little family for a few moments.

* * *

 _Sorry this one took so long, guys. I started a three-week course last week that has kept me busier than the one I completed before it. It's almost over, and I'm going to try as hard as I can to keep updates coming when Fall semester starts up again._


	12. The Morning After

_Friday, 5 September 2014_

 _Scully Residence_

 _9:00 pm_

It had been over an hour since Dana had gone upstairs with Fox to put Hannah to bed. Maggie knew the little girl was already almost entirely asleep when they had left, so it really should have only been fifteen minutes before they returned downstairs. Yet, they still had not returned and despite her trust in her daughter, she was actually becoming worried. It appeared that her husband did not share that worry, however, as he seemed to be quite caught up in the game he had turned on.

"Mom, do you realize Dana and her boyfriend have been upstairs alone for the past like..." Charlie paused to look at his watch, "hour now, right?" He looked up to his mother, a mischievous smirk playing on his lips.

"Yes, I realize that, Charles," Maggie murmured quietly, fighting the urge to roll her eyes at her youngest son. Dana and Charlie had always been quite close and had gotten along with one another almost better than their other siblings, even as young children. She knew not all twins got along as well as hers did, but Maggie still considered their closeness to be a result of their shared birthday. The closest the two ever got to fighting was good-natured teasing. And like any brother would do to his sister in this situation, Maggi knew Charlie was only trying to tease and embarrass Dana with his suggestive comments. Although a part of her worried about whether or not she could be reading Dana and Fox wrong when it came to their seemingly immediate closeness to one another. Maybe Charlie's inappropriate teasing held more truth than he had meant it to...or maybe she was just overreacting and being overprotective of her little girl. Dana had already been hurt far too much by boys in her lifetime.

Maggie remained in her seat for a few more minutes, trying to convince herself that she was simply overreacting and the two were merely talking upstairs. After a few more moments, and a lot of fidgeting, she finally stood. "Maybe I should go check on them..." she conceded, finally losing the internal battle with herself.

"Maggie...you know Dana," Bill finally said, as his wife began to move toward the doorway of the family room. "And I don't believe that boy would take advantage of her. Not from the way he spoke to me earlier. I think she's found herself a gentleman, Mags. Now you just gotta trust them. Lord knows she's the most trustworthy one out of all of them." He made a pointed look at Charlie with those last words.

Maggie gave her husband a small smile and sighed. "I know..." she assured him softly. "I just want to be sure they're alright...check if they need anything, maybe."

Bill watched his wife quietly and then returned her small smile, nodding slightly before turning back to his game. As he turned back, Maggie turned and began to make her way up the stairs toward Dana's room. The internal conflict once more started up; she knew what her husband said was true, but she still couldn't help but worry over her baby. It didn't matter that Dana had been the first to make her a grandmother, or that she could be fiercely independent almost to a fault at times, she was still her baby. Dana tended to be the one she worried about most, especially since the incident in Ireland.

When she made it to the top of the stairs, she checked the nursery first; it could just be that Hannah had decided to make bedtime difficult tonight due to all the excitement of meeting a new friend. She quietly opened the door and peeked in on the little girl, smiling when she saw her granddaughter sleeping soundly, sucking contently on her thumb in her sleep. But no Fox and Dana. Letting out a quiet sigh, she closed the door quietly and then turned to check Dana's room. To her surprise, the door was actually open, although there was absolutely no sound coming from inside. Dana probably remembered the rule they had with Melissa and boys in her room...a rule her oldest daughter had broken many times. Quietly, she approached the open door and peered inside.

The sight that greeted her when she entered the room caused her to smile. Dana was tucked snugly under the covers of her bed while Fox lay on top of the covers, his arms wrapped securely around her; both were sound asleep. Shaking her head in amusement, she moved into the room and picked up the extra blanket Dana kept folded on the chair in the corner of her room. Maggie silently approached the bed, draping the blanket over Fox. He stirred a little bit at the extra weight, but neither of them woke. Content, Maggie finally left the room to return downstairs.

* * *

 _Saturday, 6 September 2014_

 _Scully Residence_

 _8:00 am_

The next morning, Dana awoke to a small stream of sunlight peeking through her curtains and a strong pair of arms wrapped around her waist. Her eyes flew wide open when she registered the arms and she turned just slightly to see Mulder lying beside her, his eyes slowly fluttering open. He smiled sleepily when he saw her watching him. "Mmm g'mornin'," he mumbled, his voice thick with sleep. He closed his eyes again, smiling contently as he snuggled closer to Dana and tightened his arms gently around her.

"Fox..." she whispered, her voice betraying the slight worry she had been feeling. "Fox, we need to wake up...it's morning, you've been here all night."

Fox's eyes flew open at those words and he sat up quickly, groaning and grabbing his head when the action made him dizzy. Dana smiled sympathetically as she sat up next to him, gently rubbing his back while he recovered. "What's this? How did it get here?" he asked after a moment, fingering the blanket that had been covering him.

Dana sighed softly when she caught sight of the familiar blanket, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "It's my extra blanket I keep on that chair..." she answered quietly, pointing to the chair. "I guess that means Mom did come to check on us..."

"But Dana, nothing happened...we just came in here to talk and...fell asleep I guess," Fox said quietly, panic beginning to set into his voice. Neither of them had meant to fall asleep. He didn't want her family thinking that something happened when it didn't; he didn't want them thinking he would do something like that.

"I know that, but that doesn't mean my Mom knows..." Dana whispered softly, leaning in closer to him than was probably necessary. "Although we did leave the door open, so hopefully that cleared some things up for her." She looked to the door, which was no longer open fully, but rather open only a crack. She was assuming her mother did that too. Looking up to Fox, she noticed the look of worry on his face. "It's okay..." she whispered to him, gently nuzzling her nose into the crook of his neck. "I'm sure it's fine. She probably would have woken us otherwise, rather than let you remain sleeping in my bed."

Fox nodded slowly, opening his mouth to say something and then immediately stopping when he heard the sound of voices approaching the room.

"Come on, Hannah," they heard Maggie say in a babyish tone. "Let's go wake up Mommy and Fox. Because Mommy will be upset if she doesn't get to say goodbye to her Ahab before he leaves."

Dana smirked slightly, shaking her head as the door to her room opened. Hannah immediately squealed when she saw them, nearly throwing herself out of her grandmother's arms in excitement. Maggie chuckled, setting the girl on the bed and watching as she practically attacked Dana and Fox.

"Woah, what kind of monster is this?!" Fox exclaimed in mock fear as the little girl moved from attacking her mother to attacking him. "Aaahh, help me!" he called, causing Hannah to giggle uncontrollably. "But wait...it seems this monster didn't realize that she chose to attack...the tickle monster!" Hannah squealed as Mulder lifted her and laid her on the bed, tickling her and causing the giggles to become even more uncontrollable.

Dana watched him with a huge smile on her face, laughing quietly as he tickled her daughter. Something she hadn't anticipated when she first told him about Hannah was how good he would be with her. She hadn't even anticipated it from how he had initially acted when he arrived the day before. He had just gotten far more comfortable with them as the night went on, and now he seemed to be able to play with her daughter without feeling nervous or afraid that he would do something wrong.

As the giggles slowly disappeared and Hannah snuggled into Mulder, Dana finally chanced a look up at her mother, seeing a smile on her face as well. "Mom...nothing happened last night...if you were wondering," she said quietly, the guilt slipping into her voice. "We noticed the blanket and..."

"Dana..." Maggie interrupted. "I know, don't worry. You kept the door open, which was the first good sign. And Fox wasn't even under the covers with you. Although he looked a little cold, so that's why I gave him the blanket. I didn't have the heart to wake the two of you up when you looked so comfortable."

Dana blushed and let out a breathy laugh, shaking her head. "That's a relief...we were both a little worried we may have given off the wrong impression," she explained. "We hadn't been planning on falling asleep. We came in here to talk and...well, I guess we were more exhausted than we thought."

Maggie smiled at her daughter and gently brushed her hair back. "I was a little concern when I realized it had been over an hour since you went to put Hannah to bed, but it was gone by the time I checked on you," she assured her daughter. "Now come on, breakfast is ready, and your dad is leaving in less than an hour. I knew you would be upset if you couldn't say goodbye."

* * *

The two arrived downstairs with Hannah a few minutes after Maggie had left Dana's bedroom. Dana instantly flushed a dark shade of scarlet when she saw the mischievous grin her brother was giving her. "So Dana...how was your night?" he asked teasingly, drawing out the last word.

Dana let out a sigh and rolled her eyes as she put Hannah in her highchair. "Charlie...we were talking and we fell asleep. That's all," she insisted quietly.

"I told your mother she was worried about nothing," Bill agreed, taking a bite of his pancakes. "She was worrying herself over nothing. Dana's our most trustworthy child, and I know that boyfriend of yours is a gentleman."

Dana blushed even darker at her father's words but still smiled slightly as she looked down at her food. Fox was blushing as well.

"You have my blessing, Starbuck," her father said after a moment of silence.

A smile slowly grew on Dana's face and she gently took Fox's hand under the table. "Thank you, Ahab," she whispered softly, looking up to him with a small smile.

Bill stood, bringing his empty plate to the sink for his wife before walking around the table to give his daughter a hug. He took her in his arms when she stood, rocking her slightly from side to side and then kissing the top of her head gently. "I'll see you again at Thanksgiving, Starbuck," he whispered to her. He released her and, noticing the few tears that had slipped down her cheeks, gently wiped them away. "And you, Mr. Mulder," he said after a moment, looking up to Fox. "I'm counting on you to look after my Dana. Keep her safe." He looked down at his daughter with a smile. "She's precious to us."

Mulder gave Bill a smile and nodded. "I'll take good care of her, sir," he said with a smile, quickly correcting himself when Bill gave him a stern look. "Uh...Bill."

Dana giggled slightly, wiping away the last of her tears and giving her father one last hug before sitting down next to Mulder again. Leaning in close to him, she whispered, "He likes you, Fox."

* * *

 _I hope you guys have enjoyed up to this point :) I think after this, I'm going to try getting it moving beyond one day per chapter (or more). There's a good chance there might be a bit of a skip of a couple of weeks next chapter. Let me know what you think!_


	13. Birthday

_Monday, 13 October 2014_

 _University of Maryland_

 _7:45 am_

Dana sighed and sat down in her usual seat at the back of the lecture theatre. She had no idea why she had the idea that she was going to be late today. Perhaps it was because she wanted so badly to be early so she could say happy birthday to Fox before class started that she ended up making herself think she was running late. Now looking around, however, she figured she was probably earlier than she had actually needed to be. There were only a few people in their seats already; it seemed more people arrived five or ten minutes beforehand than she had initially thought.

"You beat me today, Red. Impressive, considering I live on campus and you don't. You didn't speed, did you?" she heard a teasing voice chuckle behind her. Turning, she beamed up at Fox and practically jumped into his arms, nearly making him drop the coffees he was holding in the process. The suddenness of her movement caused Fox to laugh and wrap his arms tightly around her. "Gee, Dana, you saw me yesterday afternoon, how could you possibly miss me already?" he teased further, pressing a brief kiss to the top of her head.

Dana chuckled and shook her head, pulling back to look at him. "Happy Birthday," she whispered before gently pressing her lips to his.

Fox frowned at those words and shook his head in denial. "It's not my birthday," he insisted, turning to pull his chair out and sit down.

A look of confusion crossed Dana's face as she watched him sit. Rather than sitting down as well, she simply stood there, completely frozen in her confusion. Had she gotten the wrong day? Wasn't it the thirteenth? Quickly checking the lock screen of her phone for the date, she frowned slightly and then finally sat down, leaning in close to Fox. "Oh, it's definitely your birthday."

Scoffing, Fox rolled his eyes and set one of the two coffees he had been carrying in front of his girlfriend. "Give me a calendar or something," he argued, turning to pull out his notes while Dana pulled up the calendar on her phone. "It's not my birthday, and I will prove it to—" Fox stopped as he turned and found Dana's phone in his face, the date flashing October 13th. Briefly, he regretted ever telling Dana when his birthday was before quickly pushing the thought from his head. "Oh...never mind. Happy Birthday to me."

Dana raised her eyebrows at his words, watching him for a moment before frowning just a bit. "Fox...did you actually just forget your birthday?" She asked softly. "Or were you just hoping _I_ would forget?"

Fox looked up to his girlfriend and sighed, closing his eyes and pushing his hair back. "Dana, I haven't celebrated my birthday in a long time," he explained. "I think probably since I was thirteen...or at least, that was the last time we _tried_ to celebrate my birthday. The last time it was truly celebrated was when I was twelve." _Before Samantha_. "Eventually I just started forgetting it was the thirteenth and I would notice a few days after the fact that I had forgotten my own birthday. It was upsetting the first year it happened, but when no one remembers your birthday anymore, you tend to just forget it as well.

"It didn't seem to be important to anyone else."

When he finally opened his eyes and looked at her again, Dana noticed the sadness and pain in them. She wanted to cry for him. Slowly over the month and a half they had known one another she had begun to learn a little more about his family, and she couldn't believe the pain and hurt he had endured from his parents after his sister's disappearance. It made her glad to know that the only time he ever really saw his mother anymore was when he went to check on Samantha; his father...well, he never really mentioned him to her, and it made her wonder.

"That's awful..." she whispered softly. "You deserve to be acknowledged on your birthday as much as anyone else does. I can't believe you haven't even gotten so much as a card from family in years. And this year especially...you're officially legally an adult now."

"Well, I wasn't acknowledged much on any other day after Samantha disappeared either," Fox whispered. "My thirteenth birthday was my last one—and unsuccessful—because my father said I shouldn't be celebrating being alive when she could be dead. So it stopped."

Those words caused Dana's mouth to drop open. "What a horrible thing to say..." she breathed. "Fox...she isn't dead. You know that now. You don't have to let your father's words haunt you anymore. You're allowed to celebrate. I'm sure if Samantha hadn't made it, she wouldn't have wanted you not to celebrate like your father said." Fox nodded slowly, choking back tears as Dana gave him a small, sad smile. She wiped away a few of the tears she noticed slip down his cheek and leaned in closer to him.

"Let me celebrate with you..." she requested. He gave her a sad smile and took her hand, squeezing it. "Mom wants to make you dinner, have a small family birthday with you. She already made you a cake after you left last night." She was sure her mother had been preparing to make it today while they were in class since Fox usually ended up spending the night in Bill Jr.'s old room. As soon as he had left, she had gone into a baking frenzy.

The look of surprise on Fox's face almost killed her. He had been so deprived of a happy birthday in his life that the mere thought that her mother wanted to help him celebrate by making a cake for him surprised him. It made her sad. "Your mom made me a cake?" he choked out, a lump growing in his throat and threatening more tears. A watery smile grew on his face when she nodded. "I always got store bought cake when I was little. My mom didn't bake." His face fell after a moment and he sighed. "I don't know, Dana, I think I would just feel too awkward celebrating with your family."

Dana frowned a little bit. "Fox, you're already basically a part of the family. You sleep in Bill's room more often than you do in your own apartment...you practically live with us. Why would you feel awkward?"

"Just...I don't know, just because," Fox fumbled, not able to find any excuse to feel awkward with her family. He felt more comfortable around her mother and Charlie than he felt around his own family. Sadly, he wasn't even as close to Samantha anymore. He loved her, but they didn't tell each other much. He was hoping that would change as she became more comfortable in her family again.

Finally, he let out a small scoff and shook his head, coming up with a weak excuse. "I mean seriously, _what_ are you supposed to do when people sing the Happy Birthday song at you?"

Shaking her head, Dana couldn't help but chuckle a little at those words. "Okay, first of all, they're singing it _to_ you, Fox, not _at_ you, and second..." She paused and frowned, completely stumped as she thought of his question. "Well...um..." What were you supposed to do?

"Exactly," Fox said, now chuckling himself.

Dana pursed her lips and sighed. "Fox, please?" she asked softly. "It will only be us, Mom, Hannah, and Charlie. Dad isn't back until Thanksgiving, Bill you likely won't meet until Christmas, and Melissa...well, no one is quite sure if she's still in India or not. Mom would be so disappointed if you didn't come. She wants to do this for you, she's said she thinks of you as a son."

"She thinks of me as a son?"

"Why does that surprise you?" Dana whispered softly. "She's loved you since the day she met you. She even managed to project her wishes that you and I would eventually get married out loud." Fox chuckled at the memory of that and Dana smiled at him. "I promise, after we're done, we can go celebrate together, just the two of us...alone. I'll ask Mom to watch Hannah after we've put her to bed and then we can go anywhere you want." She gave him a smile and gently squeezed his arm. "Who knows? You may even have fun..."

Fox had a mock serious expression on his face, managing to look extremely contemplative. "Anywhere?" he asked, giving her a coy look.

Dana laughed and nudged his arm gently. "Within reason."

Fox beamed at her as she laughed. He loved her laugh. He would do anything for that laugh... "Alright," he relented after a moment. Besides...it wasn't as if he could say no to Dana once he looked into her big blue eyes anyway.

* * *

 _So it was not intentional for me to write a chapter about Mulder's birthday, October 13, on the thirteenth chapter...pure coincidence, but I definitely laughed when I saw it. I decided to end it here because I figured the chapter would be extremely long if I kept in the celebration at Maggie's and Dana and Fox's private celebration, so those will be together next chapter, which will definitely be longer._


	14. Ready

_Monday, 13 October 2014_

 _Scully Residence_

 _1:45 pm_

After both of their classes had finished for the day, Dana and Fox entered the Scully residence to the smell of baking, causing Dana to frown a bit in confusion.

"I thought you said she baked a cake last night after I left?" Fox whispered in her ear as they both moved into the family room.

"She did," Dana whispered back as she placed her book bag beside the coffee table and sat down on the floor in front of it.

Her words caused a look of confusion to cross Fox's face as well. "Then why...?"

"I don't know," Dana shrugged, patting the floor beside her to get him to sit down. "Sometimes I come home and she's baked enough cookies for the entire Navy." Fox chuckled, causing Dana to smile as she pulled out the notes for their shared class so they could study for their Friday midterm while they waited for dinner. "I think it's her way of keeping herself busy when Ahab is gone. Although oddly enough she never seems to do it on the days you end up coming home with me." And it was very rare that Fox didn't come home after class with her.

"Dana?" Maggie called from the kitchen.

"We're in the family room, Mom," Dana called back, looking to her mother as she entered from the kitchen with Hannah in one arm and a plate with crackers, and cheese and meat slices in the other. The minute she set the little girl on the floor, she immediately toddled over to Fox and threw herself into his lap, giggling when she looked up at him. Dana smiled and brushed her fingers through the toddler's curls before looking back up to her mother as she set the plate down on the coffee table in front of them.

"Your brother ended up eating the cake at some point today when I was grocery shopping with Hannah, so I had to make a new one," Maggie explained, clearly not impressed with her youngest son.

"I didn't know!" Charlie called from the kitchen, sounding as though he had already said the phrase multiple times that day.

"Charles, Dana's mentioned Fox's birthday a few times in the last week, you should have known!" Maggie called back.

Fox raised his eyebrows at those words and looked to Dana, his expression turning from one of curiosity to one of amusement as she blushed a dark crimson at the revelation that she had basically been planning his birthday for him. He couldn't believe that this girl he had barely known for two months cared for him enough to want to plan an enjoyable birthday for him, while his family couldn't even be bothered with remembering it since his sister had been kidnapped. It sounded selfish, he knew, but he highly doubted every family that had a kidnapped child completely forgot their others existed.

"But I didn't know that was what the cake was for!" Charlie's voice came from the kitchen once more, causing Fox to pull his eyes away from his girlfriend and look back to her mother.

Maggie rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Anyway, his task now is to help me with the new one, which is almost ready to take out of the oven for cooling and icing, and then I'll start on dinner once the cake is out of the oven," she explained.

"Mom, it's only 2, you really don't need to worry about dinner yet," Dana said, an amused smile playing on her lips. Trust her mother to get herself entirely worked up and stressed over a dinner that really didn't need to be perfect anyway.

"Mrs. Scully, you really don't have to do any of this…" Mulder insisted, shrinking back a little at the identical looks he was receiving from his girlfriend and her mother. "Really…" he added in a half-hearted mumble, almost scared to add the tiny word due to the looks directed at him.

"Fox, what have I told you about calling me Mrs. Scully?" Maggie asked with a raised eyebrow, smiling just slightly when he mumbled a quiet 'sorry'. "Mrs. Scully is my mother-in-law, and she is all the way back in Eniskerry, Ireland. I don't care how many times you protest about this, Fox, I am still going to make you dinner and a cake on your birthday. And I'll do it as long as you're around." _And I really hope that's forever,_ she added mentally. "You're like another son to me, and you deserve to be treated the same on your birthday."

Fox managed a tentative smile at her words, trying to quickly blink back the tears that had risen up once more in his eyes. He had already teared up more in that day than he had allowed himself to in a long time; all it took was someone caring for him on his birthday and he broke down in tears. He really didn't want to cry in front of Dana's mom, especially since he could tell Dana had already noticed his tears from the way she was watching him. What he didn't need was both women worrying about him; that would _really_ make him break out in tears. Luckily, Maggie didn't notice and simply gave him a caring, motherly smile that only made him want to cry more. He couldn't help but completely love the woman; she treated him like a son when she didn't have to. She treated him like a son while his mother didn't.

"Well it's settled then," Maggie said, seeming quite pleased with herself. "I'll be in the kitchen finishing the cake and keeping Charlie from eating me out of house and home if you need me."

With that, she left the room, leaving the two alone with Hannah who had already toddled away from her mother and Fox and toward the corner holding a toy box and a dollhouse. Dana watched Hannah for a moment to make sure she was going to play fine on her own before turning to look back at Fox. "Are you okay?" she whispered softly, leaning into him and running a gentle hand up his arm.

Fox nodded slowly, blinking a few times in an attempt to rid himself of the tears that had not yet fallen.

"Are you sure?"

Another nod.

Dana gave him a sad smile and squeezed his arm reassuringly. "Just the two of us later. I promise." She leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to his temple. "Just the two of us."

Leaning in to her kiss, Fox let out a small groan of frustration as tears prickled at his eyes again. "I didn't realise it meant so much to me," Fox whispered, his voice breaking. "I'm not used to people caring on my birthday...or at all. I'm happy your mom cares enough to do this, but it...it hurts that she cares more than my own parents ever did."

Laying her head on his shoulder, Dana gently wrapped her arms around his torso. "You're a part of our family now, Fox," she whispered. "I'm sorry your family stopped being one for you...but you have us now." _And you will always have us_ , she thought, gently brushing a stray tear from his cheek.

Giving her a sad smile, Fox nodded slowly. Taking her hand, he squeezed it and then let out a small sigh. "Tell me the names of all of Zeus's children, Dana," he said with a small smirk as he flipped through his notes from their classical mythology class.

Letting her head fall to the table, Dana groaned, causing Hannah to look up from her dollhouse and at her mother with a concerned expression. "Really? That's the question you want to ask me?" she whined, forehead still pressed against her notebook. "Fox, do you realise how many kids that guy has, many of whom are completely insignificant?"

Fox started laughing, earning him a whithering glare that could kill from Dana. "Come on, _Scully_ ," he teased, emphasizing her last name. "I know you know...or are you chicken." A shit-eating grin was growing on his lips with every word and he eventually mimicked the movement of chicken wings to emphasize his teasing.

Dana finally raised her head completely to look at him, an eyebrow raised. "Oh, it's Scully now, is it, _Mulder?_ " she asked, her tone taking on a similar challenge. "Okay, but you know I'm going to come up with a question that's just as complicated, if not more."

Tutting, Fox shook his head. "Not possible. Nothing is more complicated than Zeus's horde of illegitimate and few legitimate children."

With a dramatic sigh, Dana rolled her eyes and swiped her tongue over her lips, slowly closing her notebook so Mulder couldn't accuse her of cheating. "Okay, keep track. I'm not going to say them again," she warned. "The obvious ones are Athena, Dionysus, Heracles, Apollo and Artemis, Persephone, and Helen of Troy. Then you have his legitimate children with Hera, Ares, Eileithyia, arguably Hephaestus—although he may be just Hera's. Their little known legitimate children are Enyo, Eris, Angelia, and Hebe.

"Aphrodite is his in some myths, depending on who you read, Hermes, King Minos, Perseus, the Graces, the Horae, the Litae, the Muses, and the Moirai." She saw Fox open his mouth to speak and quickly gave him a look. "No, I am not going to name each of them individually, Fox, that's another question. And..." She took a deep breath and paused, her tongue making another swipe over her dry lips. "Some insignificant others that I am not going to name because I know we don't need to know them."

Fox was watching her with an amused expression when she finished. "I'm impressed, Scully," he said in the same teasing tone. "I'm not even sure all of those are in the textbook. Although, some of his kids with Hera are other gods' kids, or don't even exist, depending on who you read."

"Fox, literally all the kids and other relations depend on who you read, stop being a smart ass!" she snapped before chuckling and shaking her head. "And is this last name thing going to become permanent with you?"

Shrugging, Mulder began to absentmindedly flip the pages of his notebook. "Maybe…I kind of like it," he admitted almost shyly. And he really liked the way his last name sounded rolling off her tongue. He liked the way his first name sounded rolling of her tongue, but somehow it was different when it was his surname.

Dana smiled at him in amusement, nudging his arm gently with her shoulder. "You like it when I call you Mulder?" she purred almost seductively, giggling a bit when he shivered in response.

He let Dana giggle for a few moments, allowing himself to enjoy the music that was her laugh. Not once in the time he had known her had Fox Mulder heard Dana Scully speak in such a seductive tone. For the first time, she was actually fully flirting with him and not holding back like she usually did. That meant she was becoming more comfortable with him, didn't it? He knew she was comfortable with him in general, but he also knew that when it came to anything remotely sexual she got nervous or even scared due to her past.

After a moment, he pulled her close, causing her to gasp in surprise. Catching her gaze, he gave her a soft smile before pressing a tender kiss to her lips. "Do you have any idea what being with you makes me feel?" he whispered quietly against her lips before kissing her again.

Once she got over her initial shock at the suddenness of his actions, Dana smiled into his kisses. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I might have an idea…" she whispered back, lips still touching his. "But telling me couldn't hurt."

Chuckling, Fox leaned her back a little and kissed her once more, one of his hands gently pushing her hair back from her face. Despite the encouraging nature of her words, he couldn't help but feel just a tiny bit insecure about his feelings for her. What if she didn't feel the same way? Was it too soon in their relationship to mention the extent of his feelings? Well, considering their closeness from the start, he could argue that nothing was really too soon for them; to those who didn't know better, it was almost as if they knew one another their whole lives.

But what if he scared her away? He wasn't sure he could live with that. Like she had said earlier, she had become his family, and he didn't think he could handle losing some of the only true family he had had in a long time. Perhaps it was best to keep his feelings to himself for the time being…at least until he was absolutely positive the truth wouldn't freak her out.

"Mulder…?" he heard Dana's worried voice call to him after a few moments of silence between the two. The combination of the concern in her voice with the use of his surname caused his heart to swell further. He looked down into her blue eyes, the concern her had heard in her voice present there as well. God, he loved those eyes. He loved everything about her really. In fact, he was almost positive Dana Scully was completely perfect. Of course he knew she had faults. Everyone did. He just loved her so much that he loved those faults as well. _Boy, do you have it bad_ , he chastised himself.

"Are you okay?" Dana's voice came again, asking him the same question she had been asking him all day.

Fox finally broke himself out of the slight trance he had managed to fall into. "I'm always good when I'm with you," he whispered to her, pressing another soft kiss to her lips. _Good lord, could you sound any cornier?_ He scolded himself once more. It was probably best to shut himself up before he completely jeopardised their relationship. But Dana smiled and blushed, causing his earlier doubt about his corny words to melt away. Feeling more confident again, he leaned in for another kiss, pressing a little harder this time and gently probing her lips with his tongue to request entrance.

"Well, it certainly looks like you're getting a lot of studying done, Danes," an amused voice said, causing the two to jump apart.

Dana's face had turned a dark shade of scarlet and her eyes widened when she noticed Melissa standing in the entrance to the family room. "Missy?!" She cried, standing and running to throw her arms around her older sister. "You didn't tell us you were going to be home!"

Laughing, Melissa wrapped her arms tightly around her sister and rocked in a circle with her while they hugged. "I didn't tell anyone," she explained. "I wanted it to be a surprise." She pulled back and smiled at her sister before her eyes strayed to Fox, pretending desperately to study in his embarrassment. "I didn't realise I was going to be getting a surprise too when I came back from India." She looked down into her sister's blushing face expectantly.

"Umm…" Dana started, shifting a little uncomfortably as she pulled out of her sister's arms. "Missy, this is Fox Mulder…umm…my boyfriend."

Missy raised her eyebrows and looked between the two. "Dana Katherine, you've been holding out on me," she scolded in a teasing tone. "Didn't I tell you that when this day came you were supposed to tell me immediately? How long have you been together? How did you meet?"

Dana couldn't help but laugh a little bit at her sister's enthusiasm despite her own persistent embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Miss, but you kind of drop of the face of the Earth when you travel. Sometimes we don't even know if you're alive until you show up like this," she reminded her with a small smirk. "We've been together a little over a month…we met on the first day of school. We quite literally ran into one another on the way to our class."

"You were kind of mean to me actually. Remind me again why I decided it would be a good idea to try and date you?" Fox added in, his tone entirely teasing and his eyes twinkling with mischief as he watched her.

Missy raised her eyebrows as she watched the two interact silently with one another. She felt like she wasn't even in the room anymore with the way they were looking at one another. "Alrighty then…" she interjected after a few moments of silence, making her way over to Hannah. "I am going to take my niece, who I missed very, very much," she added in a baby voice to the little girl. "And I think I'll go surprise Mom now."

She was almost positive neither of them noticed her leave the room.

* * *

 _Monday, 13 October 2014_

 _Mulder's Apartment_

 _10:00 pm_

After putting Hannah to bed at 8, Dana and Fox left with Maggie's permission and encouragement and ended up at his apartment on the University campus watching movies and cuddling. The credits for Mel Gibson's _Young Frankenstein_ were rolling when Dana felt Fox gently pull her a little closer to him. Looking up with a curious eyebrow raised, she noticed him looking down at her with a fond, even loving smile. The expression was one she wasn't sure she had witnessed yet and she couldn't help the blush that slowly crawled onto her cheeks at his gaze.

"What?" she breathed softly, letting her hand draw absentminded circles on his chest.

Fox's smile grew at her actions, a gentle hand reaching out to play with one of her red curls. "I was just thinking about how beautiful you look...and how happy you've made me today." His smile grew wider when her blush darkened with his words.

Dana sat up slowly and pulled away from him just slightly. She studied his face quietly for a moment before allowing herself to gently trace the features of his face with the tip of her index finger.

"What are you doing?" Fox asked softly, chuckling a bit.

A small smile grew on Dana's lips and her fingers wandered up into his soft hair. "Memorizing you...what your face looks like in a moment of pure happiness," she explained softly.

Her words captivated him and he closed his eyes at the feel of her fingers playing in his hair. Every time he thought there was nothing this woman could do or say to make him love her more, she turned around and surprised him. Suddenly, he felt her lips on his, causing his eyes to open for a brief moment in surprise before sliding closed again. His hands slowly moved down from her hair to gently take her waist.

The tender kisses continued for a few moments before turning more passionate. Suddenly Dana was in his lap with her arms around his neck, her fingers now playing in the hair at the nape of his neck. His emotions were quickly beginning to move out of his control and he involuntarily thrust up against her, causing Dana to tense just a bit as she became anxious about their current position. "I'm sorry," Fox quickly said as Dana pulled back from the kiss. "Dana, I don't want to push you into anything. Really. If you're not ready, I understand."

He noticed the tears forming in her eyes and took them as a sign that he had screwed up. "Dana...I will wait as long as you need me to," he whispered to her, bringing his hand up to gently caress her cheek. "I love you enough that I would wait forever if you needed me to."

The tears had begun to roll down Dana's cheeks by now and Mulder mentally cursed his stupidity. She probably never wanted to see him again now. On top of grinding himself against her like a horny teenager, he had accidentally told her that he loved her. Everything was ruined now and it was all his fault.

"You love me?" Dana asked after a few moments of silence in a small voice.

Tentatively, Fox reached up to wipe away her tears, pressing a tiny, unsure kiss to her nose. "I do..." he breathed softly. "More than anything." He wasn't sure how she came to mean so much to him, but she had. She meant everything to him.

Dana let out a sound between a laugh and a sob, suddenly pressing her lips against his again. "I love you too..." she breathed against his lips. "So much..."

Those words were all his heart needed in order to stop and then suddenly start soaring. He had been wrong...he hadn't scared her away. She loved him too! He let out a happy laugh and tightened his hold on her waist, kissing her passionately. "I meant what I said, Dana," he whispered when he pulled back a few moments later. "I would wait for you forever. I'm not pushing you to do anything. I would never do that to you."

Dana gave him a shy smile and nodded, brushing any stray tears from her cheeks. "I know," she whispered. "But Fox...I want to show you how much I love you. I want to feel how much you love me." She blushed shyly and quickly brushed her hair back, her tongue swiping over her lips. "I am ready."

* * *

 _Sorry this one took so long, guys. It took me a little while to write it, since it's the longest chapter I have written thus far, and I was trying to make sure it fit my expectations. I'm still not sure it fits those expectations, but this will just have to do. I feel like this might be very corny, might be moving too fast, and could even be a tiny bit out of character. I could be wrong, but these are my current insecurities. And...this is probably the closest I will ever get to writing smut. Regardless, I hope you guys enjoyed!_


	15. Love

_Tuesday, 14 October 2014_

 _Mulder's Apartment_

 _5:00 am_

The sun was just starting to peek through a crack in the curtains, a stream of light falling across Dana's face. A frown settled onto her face at the change in colour it caused behind her eyelids. In an attempt to escape the stream of light, she rolled over so her back was to the window, only to collide with something warm and hard. Frowning, she forced one of her eyes open, seeing Mulder's naked chest at eye level with her. For a brief moment, she wondered what he was doing in her bed—and naked, nonetheless—and then the memories of the previous night came back to her, causing a content smile to grow on her lips. Fox's bed, in Fox's apartment...after spending the night with Fox.

She blushed just a bit at the thoughts running through her mind before she finally let her eyes travel up Mulder's chest to study his face, only to be met with his open eyes and goofy grin already present despite the early hour. Seeing his smile only cause her own to grow larger and her heart to swell with happiness. Just the knowledge that she got to wake up next to him—with his dark, normally unruly hair even more tousled than usual—made her heart swell even more. The memory of the two of them finally saying those three little words to one another and then professing that love...well, that almost made her heart burst. She was happier than she had been in a long time that morning.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," Fox finally whispered, pulling her against his chest tightly and pressing a soft kiss to her nose.

The contact caused Dana to wrinkle her nose slightly in delight, a smile still remaining on her face. At this point, she wasn't sure she would ever frown again if she were honest. "Were you watching me sleep?" She teased in an amused tone.

For a moment, Fox said nothing at all, merely reaching forward and brushing a stray red curl back from Dana's face. He studied her quietly, his finger moving down to softly caress her cheekbone. He loved seeing her like this first thing in the morning. In fact, he was almost positive he could get used to waking up next to her every morning. It was definitely a lot different than waking up a few doors down the hall in her brother's room; it thrilled him that she was actually the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes in the morning. He had woken up next to her once before, but that was different. This time, they had actually meant to fall asleep and wake up together.

Finally, he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss against Dana's lips, watching as her eyes fluttered closed briefly. "You look beautiful when you sleep," he whispered against her lips as his fingers played in her tousled red curls. "You look beautiful always, but you look so peaceful and untroubled asleep and...and there's just no way to explain it. You're beautiful."

Blushing, Dana gave him a timid smile and gently kissed his lips once more. "I don't need you to explain," she whispered, her hand running down his chest softly, so softly that he fingers were barely touching his skin. The action caused him to shiver. "But I do need to thank you..." she added. "For being so gentle last night, and loving. I think it would far too easy for some guys to get carried away in the heat of the moment and forget my past."

"I would never hurt you, Dana," Fox whispered to her. "You deserve to feel nothing but loved. You should never have to fear anything. I was ready to stop whenever the slightest twinge of discomfort showed on your face." And every time he had tried to stop when she looked uncomfortable she would immediately tell him she was okay and urge him to continue. "I think I should be thanking you. Not just for letting me make love to you, but for organizing a birthday for me and making me feel loved on my birthday for the first time in years."

Tears had filled Dana's eyes as he spoke and she quickly tried to wipe away any that managed to slip down her cheeks. "I love you, Fox Mulder," she breathed, kissing him more passionately than their earlier kisses. "We all do...but I love you so much I can hardly explain it."

When she finally looked up into Mulder's eyes, his face was beaming with so much happiness that she couldn't help the giggle that fell from her lips. "You think Hannah loves me?" Mulder asked, causing Dana to laugh just a little bit harder.

"Fox, that little girl can hardly contain her excitement when you're around. I think Hannah definitely loves you," she whispered. "It's hard to tell until she actually starts talking more, which I hope happens soon." It was starting to worry her how quiet and shy her daughter was around everyone but family and Mulder. She only said variations of _mum_ or _mama_. "You've been so much like a father to her that I wouldn't be surprised if she eventually called you daddy...you really are the only father she's ever known."

Seeing Mulder's shocked expression in response to those words, she couldn't help but kick herself. She didn't want to pressure him into feeling like he had to be her father. Nobody said the two of them were getting married, maybe ever. They had only just started dating; Dana really couldn't have those expectations of him. "I mean, unless you don't want to be known as her dad, I don't mind..." Dana started rambling. "I don't want to pressure you into anything.

Fox smiled gently and shook his head, running his finger over her mouth to get her to stop talking. "I want her to think of me as her dad...if that's okay with you," he whispered. "I would be honored if she decided to call me daddy when she starts saying more words. I really love your daughter, Dana, she means just as much to me as you do."

"That means so much to me, Fox..."

He pressed a soft kiss to her lips before she could say any more, determined to finish what he had to say. "And I love you too," he breathed, pulling her close into his embrace and simply holding her.

They remained that way, lying in one another's embrace silently until they were both nearly asleep again. Just as they were about to succumb to their dreams, a phone started to ring, startling both out of their near-sleep state. Dana groaned a little when she recognized her ringtone before her eyes widened when she realized she had told her mother she would be home a little after she went to bed.

"Shit..." she murmured quietly, Mulder tense beside her as she quickly reached for her phone and answered it without checking the caller id. "Mom, I'm so sorry, we fell asleep watching a movie," she quickly tried to explain, telling a little fib to save herself. She wasn't sure how her mother would take the news that she hadn't come home because she had finally slept with her boyfriend.

"Dana, relax, it's just me," came Missy's voice from the other end, causing Dana to let out an audible sigh of relief. "But...I figured I should call and let you know that you should probably try to hurry home before Mom wakes up if you don't want to have that same panic attack you just had with me when you walk through the front door. She doesn't look like she's going to wake up for a little while yet, but I would still hurry if I were you."

Dana took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Okay, I'll be right there..." she mumbled quietly. "And Missy...why are you even awake at 5:30 in the morning?"

A bitter chuckle came from the other end. "Jet lag's a bitch," was the simple reply. Dana laughed quietly and shook her head, saying goodbye and getting ready to hang up before her sister interrupted her with, "Oh, and Dana? We'll be talking about your first official time when you get home."

Dana laughed quietly and shook her head, saying goodbye and getting ready to hang up before her sister interrupted her with, "Oh, and Dana? We'll be talking about your first official time when you get home." With that, Missy hung up, leaving Dana staring speechlessly at the phone. How her sister always managed to know these things, she would never know.

Slowly, she turned to look at Fox and gave him a sheepish look. "I'm sorry..." she whispered quietly, leaning into his embrace again slowly. "See you at noon after my first class?"

She looked up to meet her boyfriend's eyes and saw him giving her a small smile. "Of course," he whispered as he pressed a small kiss to her forehead. "I don't want to get into your mom's bad books and make her change her opinion of me, so hurry home. "Dana gave him a small smile, standing from the bed and leaning down to give him one last kiss before pulling a shirt of his and the sweatpants she had worn the previous night. "You don't mind, do you?" she asked as she quickly grabbed her phone and keys. "She knows I sleep in shirts I've pilfered from you, so it will at least look like I'm in pyjamas if she sees me before I want her to."

Fox gave her a smile and shook his head. "You always look better in them than I do," he said with a smile.

* * *

 _Tuesday, 14 October 2014_

 _Scully Residence_

 _6:00 am_

"You are so lucky there's no traffic at six in the morning," Missy said as Dana walked through the door quietly.

Dana gave her sister a sheepish look and slowly placed her keys on the hook by the front door. "I don't want to lie to her, but..."

"Don't worry, baby sister," Missy interrupted with an almost proud look on her face. "After all the times you've tried to save my hide growing up, it's about time I did the same for you." She smirked as her little sister's face turned a dark shade of red and then nudged her shoulder gently with hers. "She's not up yet, don't worry."

Letting out a sigh of relief, Dana moved further into the house, almost trying to ignore her sister as she went about a slightly altered morning routine and then moved upstairs to check on her daughter. When she came down to the kitchen with a sleepy Hannah in her arms, she noticed Missy sitting at the table with a smirk on her face. "What?" she asked irritably.

"Are you going to tell me how it was?" she teased. She lifted her hand, casually stirring her tea and never letting the smug smirk move from her face.

Dana felt her cheeks heat up again as she put Hannah in her high chair and moved to grab some Cheerios to pour into the tray for her to munch on. "Missy, please..." she muttered in embarrassment.

"Oh, that good, was it?" Missy continued to tease. "So good that you can't even find the words to tell me?"

"Missy!" Dana hissed. "I'll talk to you about it later, okay? Just not now." Not when their mother could walk in at any moment.

Missy stared at her sister, the smug look now gone and replaced with a look of shock. "Wait...you actually did it?" she asked in surprise. "I was just teasing you, trying to rile you up, I didn't think that...oh, Dana!"

Dana shushed her again, pouring some Cheerios into the tray of Hannah's highchair. "Later," she hissed.

The smug look was back on Missy's face. "Okay, okay," she conceded with a smile. "But...I just have to say that I'm proud of you." She knew how scary even the prospect of ever having sex again was for her sister, and to know that she had been able to find someone that she felt comfortable with to overcome that fear made Melissa happy.

Giving her a tiny smile, Dana ducked her head and moved to make some coffee, mainly just so she could hide her blush from her sister as it started to cool down.

* * *

 _I feel like the ending of this one is not entirely my best and may have been a little rushed. I do consider this chapter just a little bit of filler. I am hoping to get the next chapter up soon, but I am just nearing the end of my first week back to university so if the next chapter takes a little longer than normal, that is why :)_

 _Thank you all so much for the reviews_ last _chapter! They all mean so much to me, and I hope you enjoyed this one as well!_


	16. Happy

_Tuesday, 14 October 2014_

 _Scully Residence_

 _8:00 pm_

Later that night, Dana sat in the rocking chair with Hannah. Having already finished reading the little girl a story, she was now just simply cuddling her daughter as she slowly dropped off to sleep in her arms. As she held her, she couldn't help but think how far she had come with Hannah over the last year and a half. The first few months of motherhood had been hard for her, particularly considering Hannah had been premature and required more delicate and attentive care than other babies. Things got better as Hannah grew and Dana became used to her new role as a mother. She knew how much her own mother wished to help—much more than Dana would let her—but she really wanted to do everything on her own. Hannah was her responsibility, and she would be the one to care for and raise her unless she was in class.

There were many times her mother insisted she would babysit if she ever wanted to go out, but Dana had never really seen much of a point. She had lost all of her friends when she fell pregnant and boys never asked her out. The only loyal friend she still had to this day had moved to California for university when they graduated. The only time she ever saw Monica was during the summers and maybe Christmas. And besides...she wasn't really one for going out to party anyway.

So she really had no use for her mother's offer until she had met Fox. Even then, she hadn't taken her up on the offer until just the previous night. She and Fox were both pretty content to just hang out with Hannah at her house.

A smile crossed her face as she thought of their night together, her fingers absentmindedly playing with Hannah's curls. The initial plan after classes that day had been for Fox to come home with her as he always did, but he had received a late birthday call from his sister early on in the day, and her plead for him to come to dinner had caused Fox to skip his later classes so he could hop on a last minute flight out to Martha's Vineyard. He had told Dana just before he left that he would be back the next afternoon, meaning he would miss their morning class together. It was a good thing they regularly shared notes.

"Thinking about a certain someone?" she heard Missy ask from the nursery doorway, a hint of mischief present in her tone.

Dana let out a sigh and gave her sister a look, before bringing her gaze back down to her baby. "Missy, you do know I'm not going to tell you absolutely everything, right?" she murmured, sick of the persistent inquiries her sister had plagued her with throughout the day. "It's private between Fox and me; I would prefer it to stay that way."

Melissa smirked at her sister, moving to lean against the dresser across from the rocking chair Dana occupied. "I know that, Dana," she said, although her tone held some disappointment. She knew how private her sister was and she knew she had to respect that aspect of her personality. Dana would tell her more if she felt like it, although God knows it had taken her far too long to confide in her after the rape. Melissa hadn't even known what had happened to her little sister until Dana had to pee on a stick and she came to her in fear pleading for help. "I just want to know that you're happy...and that he's treating you right."

That was the one thing Dana's entire family worried about when it came to her even theoretically meeting a boy: he had to treat her right. He had to treat her right, and he had to protect her. She had already had her life's fill of pain at the hands of a man, and Dana knew her family didn't want her to know any more pain from any other man that came into her life.

Well, her entire family worried about it…except for Bill Jr. Bill Jr had his own beliefs about her rape and what she should have done. He had his own beliefs in her involvement in the initiation of it as well.

Blushing a little, Dana sighed. "Missy...he's perfect," she whispered, a happy smile slowly growing on her face as thoughts of Fox Mulder once more rolled into her head. "I am over the moon with him. I know it's early, but I can't imagine my life without him...I miss him when I'm not with him. And he's a perfect gentleman. I think the thought of me getting hurt hurts him more than it does me. He would never be able to hurt me and..." she paused and her blush grew darker. "He was so gentle and considerate last night. He kept trying to make sure I was alright if I even show the slightest sign of discomfort."

Missy smiled as her sister spoke of her boyfriend. The way she spoke about him...well, she definitely knew this boy would be sticking around for quite some time if Dana had anything to say about it. "I'm so happy you found him, Danes," she said softly. "Men like him really are few and far between. You look happier than you've have in a long time."

"I am happy," Dana breathed with a smile, standing and carrying Hannah over to the crib to tuck her in. "I think I'm happier than I ever remember being in my whole life, to be honest." She couldn't remember ever feeling the way she felt when she was around Fox.

Slowly, she tucked the blankets around her daughter, kissing her head. "Mommy loves you, sweet one," she whispered to her before straightening up and looking back to Melissa. "Did I mention how good he is with Hannah?" she asked her sister as they left the room. "Or how much he loves her? How much she adores him?"

Melissa grinned, a small laughed falling from her lips as she slowly closed the door behind them. "You, baby sister, are in love," she observed with a grin. "Well...it seems you may have found yourself a keeper. Has dad met him?"

"Just before he left," Dana explained. "He likes him, told him he better take care of me. He basically gave us his blessing after he learned a little more about Fox. I'm sure you don't even need to ask whether Mom likes him...you've seen how she talks about him."

"She made him a full birthday dinner, Dana," Missy laughed. "Maybe even a better dinner than she's made for Bill. She clearly likes him."

Dana laughed with her as they moved into her bedroom. "She basically begged him to marry me the day she met him," she chuckled, her smile growing as she remembered Fox's expression when her mother had accidentally spoken her thoughts out loud. "Accidentally of course. She didn't mean to mention him as a son-in-law out loud."

"Well, the man hasn't run away yet," Missy pointed out. "She may be more right about him joining the family than you think."

Dana smiled, a smile blush creeping across her cheeks. "I hope so..." she whispered. She knew it was still early, but she would love to one day marry Fox Mulder.

* * *

 _I know this is a little short. I initially had a slight skip planned for this chapter, but so many people mentioned wanting to see the talk between Dana and Missy so I added this little thing in here. There will be another skip next chapter, probably to the week of Thanksgiving. I'm Canadian, so I'm literally having to google the dates for Thanksgiving in_ _2014,_ _since ours is just before Halloween, but I will do my best with it :)_

 _Thank you again for all the reviews! I'm really having a blast writing this story!_


	17. Sick

_Monday, 24 November 2014_

 _Scully Residence_

 _3:00 pm_

Sick. She absolutely hated being sick. Hannah had managed to catch the flu and had now been sick since Wednesday. This meant, naturally, that Dana had managed to catch the same cold as well and had been sick since Friday, leaving her with two missed days of classes. If she had her choice she wouldn't be missing any classes. However, it didn't help that she had a bowl attached to her side just in case she felt the need to be sick.

So that left her with the option of laying snuggled up with her daughter on the couch in the living room watching movies while Fox sat in class and took notes for both of them. The current film selection happened to be Toy Story, something that never failed to keep Hannah endlessly entertained.

"How are my sick girls doing?" Maggie asked as she walked into the room with a bowl of soup in her hands. She intended to once more try and get Dana to eat, but so far it had been in vain. Dana was stubborn, but being sick often served to only enhance that stubbornness; she didn't feel well and she really didn't feel like making herself feel worse by eating something she wouldn't be able to keep down. Maggie, however, believed that if she didn't try, she wouldn't know when she would be able to start keeping things down.

Hannah had managed to eat and keep down a whole bowl of soup already earlier on in the day. Really, she mainly had a cough and a small fever now. Dana, on the other hand, still happened to be in the pukey, queasy stage of her illness, along with a cough and sniffles like Hannah had.

Dana looked up at the smell of chicken noodle soup, her stomach almost instantly starting to roll. "Mom, please no..." she groaned, her voice almost breaking with frustrated tears. She really hated being sick, and she was simply getting annoyed with her circumstances at this point. "I really can't."

Giving her daughter a sympathetic look, Maggie placed a gentle hand on her forehead. "You still have a fever..." she murmured before sighing. "But Dana...you have to get something in you. Please try at least some crackers."

Sighing, Dana brought her attention down to Hannah, the little girl now completely asleep. Like usual, she had her thumb in her mouth, although now her mouth remained open due to the congestion her cold was causing. Like her mother had done a few moments previous, she pressed a gentle hand to the baby's forehead. "Her fever's gone down," she said quietly, ignoring her mother's words and hoping to change the topic.

Pursing her lips, Maggie shook her head and sat down in a nearby chair. "Yes, I think she's almost through with her little bout of illness," she agreed. "Which only makes me more concerned as to why you don't appear to be any better. Dana, she was only throwing up the first day. You've continued since the day you got sick. Clearly, you don't have the same cold or you would be feeling at least a tiny bit better." And she would likely also be more willing to eat something than she currently was. "I really think you should go to the doctor. What if it's more serious?"

Dana fought the urge to roll her eyes at her mother's paranoia and slowly shook her head. "Mom, it's just the flu," she murmured. "I just got it worse than she did, probably because the stress from school lowered my immune system." She stopped when she caught sight of the look her mother was giving her. "Fine, I'll see if Fox will take me tomorrow after his classes end." She didn't even want to try driving with the way she had been feeling.

"Thank you," Maggie breathed. "I just want you feeling better, sweetie...I hate seeing you like this and I want you better for Thanksgiving on Thursday. Your father will be back tomorrow, and Bill is..."

She trailed off when she saw Dana tense a bit at the mention of her brother's name. Letting out a sigh, she closed her eyes before slowly opening them and reaching out to place the bowl of soup on the coffee table in front of her. "Dana, I'll make sure he's civil," she whispered. "His comments are not called for, and both your father and I will not stand for them."

"It doesn't matter..." Dana whispered quietly. "It won't keep him from thinking those things about me. I can see him thinking them..." She shook her head sadly and absentmindedly turned her attention back to Toy Story on the screen. She sighed once more and held her daughter closer to her, blinking back a few tears.

It was quiet for a few moments until they heard the front door open and Fox call, "I come bearing class notes for missed lectures and comfort food!"

Dana blanched again and quickly shook her head as Fox came into the living room. "She won't eat it, Fox," Maggie muttered almost bitterly. "She hasn't touched anything all day. Not since she attempted a small breakfast when she was feeling a little better this morning." To be honest, she was becoming a little frustrated with the fact that her daughter was stubbornly refusing to even try to eat. She hadn't really had a full meal since she got sick on Friday, and anything she ate tended to consist of crackers or dry toast. Since breakfast that morning, she refused to even try crackers. She was only going to make it worse by refusing food and fluids.

Fox watched the two of them in worry and then slowly put the bag of food from their favourite café down on the coffee table. "Dana…you still can't keep anything down?" he asked her quietly as he knelt down in front of her.

This time, Dana did roll her eyes, even managing a small scoff. "Why are you both acting like I'm dying or something?" She snapped irritably, causing Fox to back away slightly. "It's just the flu!"

A whimper coming from the child in her arms caused her momentary burst of anger to simmer down to just annoyance at her mother and boyfriend. "I'm sorry, baby," she whispered softly to the little girl, rubbing her back. "It's okay, go back to sleep." She continued to shush her softly, shooting an annoyed glare at her mother and Fox.

"Dana…" Maggie sighed quietly. "We're just worried. We never said you were dying, but it could be something more than the flu that might require some medication in order for you to get better."

Dana just ignored her as she gently rocked the little girl back to sleep, causing Maggie to sigh once more and turn her attention to Fox. "She did consent to you bringing her to the doctor just a few minutes before you arrived though," she informed him. "And now that I've told you, she can't back out."

Fox's worried expression lessened just a little at those words and he turned to look at Dana. "Well, what are we waiting for?" he asked. "Go put on some sweats or something, I'll take you now."

Eyes widening, Dana looked back up to her boyfriend. "Um, no…tomorrow is what Mom told me, I am not going today," she protested stubbornly. She didn't want to get up off the couch, let alone leave to sit in a doctor's office.

"I know I said tomorrow, Dana, but the sooner you go, the sooner you'll know what's wrong," Maggie reasoned softly, reaching out to gently brush her daughter's hair back from her hot forehead. "The sooner you know what's wrong, the sooner you'll get medication to help you get better, and the sooner you'll actually be able to get some food in you again."

Groaning, Dana let her head fall back onto the couch. "It's the flu," she whined.

"Well then prove it to us and go to the doctor," Maggie argued, giving her daughter a stern look.

For a few moments, Dana and Maggie simply stared one another down. It was rather frightening to Fox, really, to see how much the two could look alike when angry or frustrated. It typically seemed like Dana got most of her looks from her father until one saw mother and daughter's similar expression. He recently learned, however, that Dana's looks came mainly from her mother's side and not her father's when he found a picture of Dana's maternal grandmother when she was young that he thought was a picture of Dana.

Finally, Dana sighed and gave in. "Fine," she murmured, grimacing as she sat up slowly and then gently handed a once more sleeping Hannah over to her mother.

* * *

 _Monday, 24 November 2014_

 _Southlands Medical Clinic_

 _4:00 pm_

While Dana got dressed, Fox had called her doctor's office to ask if they took walk-ins and if they had any space for the rest of the day. Luckily—or unluckily for Dana—they did have space and now Dana was sitting in a hard plastic chair in the waiting room of her doctor's office.

"You won't hate me forever, I promise," she heard Fox say to her, his tone teasing.

The tone only served to make the anger and annoyance rise once more in Dana, however, and she let out a frustrated sigh. "I don't know, I think I might," she murmured with a roll of her eyes.

Turning to look at her, Fox raised his eyebrows, a look of concern slowly crossing his features. He was about to open his mouth to say something once more but was interrupted by a nurse calling Dana's name. Fox stood as Dana stood, ready to follow her into the doctor's office. "I can go on my own," Dana said in annoyance, shooting him a look before following the nurse into the back.

Dejected, Fox sighed and slowly sat down on the chair once more, resting his elbows on his knees and laying his head in his hands. He had never experienced Dana angry at him before and he was feeling a little stressed about it. Perhaps it would have been easier for him to just take her tomorrow like she had wanted. If he had done that, maybe he would be back at the house cuddling with her and Hannah and trying to help them feel better.

But it was just a visit to the doctor's office...did she really have any reason to be legitimately angry with him? It was just irrational anger. Wasn't it?

He continue to argue with himself about the way Dana was acting, worrying so much that he didn't even realise that about thirty minutes had passed and the nurse had been calling his name until he felt a gentle hand on his should. Jumping just a bit, he looked up at the older woman.

"Mr. Mulder, Miss Scully asked me to bring you into the exam room," she told him softly. "She wants you to be there with her."

The nurse's words did nothing to ease Fox's worry; in fact, they only caused him to worry even more. Was something wrong? Had Maggie been right? Was it actually something far more serious than the flu?

Taking in a shaking breath, he slowly stood and started to follow the nurse. "Don't worry, dear," he heard the nurse say. "You act like you're going to find her on her deathbed. She's just fine."

Nodding slowly, Fox took in another deep breath to try and calm himself as the nurse opened the door to one of the exam rooms for him. He gave her a small smile as he moved past her into the room, but his smile instantly fell when he saw the worried expression on his girlfriend's face and the tear tracks down her cheeks.

"What is it, what's wrong?" he panicked, looking between her and the doctor sitting on a stool near the exam table.

Dana took in a shaky breath and brushed at the tears on her cheeks, shaking her head. "Come sit, Fox…"

* * *

 _So this is where I have been wanting to get for a while. I know it's not Thanksgiving, but Thanksgiving will probably come up next chapter and be split between two. I hope you all enjoyed!_

 _Also, I have officially passed 100 pages in my word document for this. Super big milestone :)_


	18. Just the Flu

_Monday, 24 November 2014_

 _Scully Residence_

 _5:30 pm_

They had pulled into the driveway about five minutes previous, although neither of them had really made any move to get out of the car yet. Dana was sitting in the passenger seat still trying to get a solid hold on her emotions, a hand occasionally raising up to swipe a few tears away. In the driver's seat, Fox was trying to control the slight panic that had been slowly growing in his chest since entering the exam room as he stared down at the small photo in his hand. He couldn't believe it.

"Are you okay?" he heard Dana asked him shakily after a few moments more of silence.

A tiny laugh fell from his lips. "I think I should be asking you that question," he said, running his finger down the edge of the photograph. "I'm okay…really. I'm just a little bit shocked.

Dana nodded in understanding and let out a shaky breath, closing her eyes and running a hand through her hair. "I know, me too," she breathed, choking back the sob she felt rising up in her throat.

"A baby…" Fox breathed; the word was still entirely foreign coming off his tongue in this context. Of course, he had used the word baby before, but it was just so foreign to use the word to refer to his own baby. He had actually never imagined this day, which contributed to his difficulty getting over his shock now. Letting out a shaky breath, he traced the outline of the blob he was told was a baby. "We…but we used protection…"

Licking her lips, Dana sighed and shook her head. "It must have been defective," she whispered quietly. "And condoms are never 100% efficient. I should have started birth control before we decided to do anything." After their night together, she had made an appointment with the doctor to go on birth control, but it seemed that had been too late for them…she had likely already been pregnant at that point.

"He said eight weeks…" Fox mused quietly. He was confused. He knew she had never been with anyone else, but it hadn't been eight weeks since his birthday.

"They calculate pregnancy from the first day of a woman's last period," Dana explained softly to him. "The first day of my last period was the week before your birthday."

Fox took in a shaky breath and nodded in understanding. Suddenly, he felt tears well up in his eyes and he let out a small sob. "I'm so sorry…" he whispered, his voice breaking. "I promised I would never hurt you, I promised your father I would take care of you. Now look. I've essentially done the exact same thing to you that _he_ did."

Finally turning to look at him, Dana gave him a sympathetic look and took his hand. "You didn't do the same thing he did," she whispered, squeezing his hand. "You never hurt me or forced yourself on me. We made love; this baby was made in love, not because you decided to take what wasn't yours." Mulder sniffled and nodded quietly, squeezing her hand back as he choked back another sob. "Fox…are you…I mean, we're okay, right? We…we don't have to do this if you don't want to."

Fox's head snapped up to look at his girlfriend at those words. "Dana, we're fine," he whispered. "We are more than okay." In fact, he didn't think he had ever loved her more if that was even possible. "I was worried earlier that we weren't because of how angry you were at me but now…Dana, I want this. I'm just shocked right now, and it's going to take some getting used to, but I want this. I would never ask you to get rid of it." He paused for a moment and then took in a shaky breath in an attempt to stop his tears and control his shaky, emotional voice. "You…do you want this?"

Slowly, Dana nodded her head, still sniffling a little. "I'm frightened," she whispered almost inaudibly. "I'm frightened about how my parents will take it this time…but Fox, I love you." She gave him a tiny smile and pressed a small kiss against his cheek. Pregnant or not, she still had a cold and she really didn't want to get him sick. "It's a little sooner than I would have liked, but there's nothing I want more than to have your baby. And…I don't think Hannah would mind having someone else to play with."

Fox beamed at those words. Hannah, in the few short months he had known her, had already become like a daughter to him. Now, he would have a son or daughter of his own who would end up being Hannah's sibling. He let out a small laugh and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. "We're going to have a baby," he breathed happily as he gently wrapped his arms around her as best as he could in the car.

"I'm just unsure what I'm supposed to do about school now…" Dana mumbled worriedly into his shoulder.

"We'll figure something out," he whispered back, pressing another kiss to her temple. They sat for another few moments in one another's arms, completely silent. Occasionally, Fox would press another kiss to a spot on her head, or rub her back soothingly, while Dana simply clutched onto his shirt while she willed herself to calm down so her mother wouldn't be able to tell she had been crying.

"Are you ready to go inside?" he whispered in her ear after a few moments, pulling back to study her face. Tears once more welled up in her eyes at his question and he gently brought his hand up to cup her face. "Hey…no more of that, you finally look like you haven't been crying," he said softly with a smile, his thumb gently caressing her cheek as he wiped at a tear. "We'll figure this out together. I promise. I won't leave you alone on this." He wasn't _him_ , whoever he was. He would never be him. He loved Dana, and he couldn't stand to think of her ever hurting.

Dana nodded quickly and took in a deep breath to try and calm her emotions. "Okay," she breathed, running her hands over her face again. "Okay, I think I'm ready…"

Giving her a smile, Fox caressed her cheek one last time and then opened the door to exit the car. He tried to get around to open Dana's door as well, but she had it opened by the time he got there. Instead, he just took her hand gently and helped her out of the car. He wrapped his arm around her waist gently, smirking at the look she gave him. "I know you're fine," he assured her. "I just want to be close to you." Smiling, he gently nuzzled her hair and then kissed the top of her hair, causing Dana to grin.

A small giggle escaped her and she shook her head. "Alright then…" she said, smiling up at him and wrapping an arm around his waist as well.

"Dana?" They heard the instant they walked through the front door. "What did the doctor say?"

Dana tensed a little at her mother's question but immediately relaxed slightly when she felt Fox draw small circles on the small of her back to soothe her. "It's the flu," she called back. "And a throat infection. That's it. I'm not dying, I told you." She wasn't entirely lying…the doctor had mentioned the throat infection. She just wasn't telling the whole truth, and she certainly didn't intend to tell the whole truth until she was ready to do it.

When her mother walked into the hall, Dana clutched the bag of prescribed medications closer to her chest. Maggie narrowed her eyes on the bag and then looked up into her daughter's pale face, noticing the faintly red rim still present around her eyes. "Why did he give you a prescription if it's just the flu?" she asked suspiciously.

"To help with the nausea," Dana explained, perhaps maybe a little too quickly. She was too nervous to be talking to her mother right now. "I told him I couldn't hold anything down." Again, it wasn't a lie…not completely. He had given her anti-nausea medication, as well as prenatal vitamins and a referral to her OBGYN.

For a moment, Maggie watched her daughter closely before looking to Fox who simply gave her a shrug. "Alright then…" she breathed quietly. "I suppose I can say you were right now."

Absentmindedly, Dana nodded and cast her glance down to her hands, still clutching tightly at the pharmacy bag. "I'm…um…I'm going to lie down again," she whispered, pulling away from Fox and moving to her makeshift day bed on the living room couch.

Maggie watched her go before turning her attention back to Fox. "She's not lying to me, is she?" she asked him, her eyebrow raised in a similar fashion to Dana's usual quirked eyebrow.

Fox held up his hands as if in surrender. "It's the flu," he confirmed as he lowered his hands into his pockets, feeling the sonogram photo he had placed there a few moments before. He knew Dana didn't want to say anything yet. She was still afraid and she was only eight weeks. She needed to adjust first before she sat down and talked to her parents. And he was almost positive she wanted to tell her parents together so she wouldn't have to talk about it twice.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Maggie nodded slowly. "Okay," she whispered softly. "She doesn't tend to get as sick as she used to when she was little anymore. She had me worried with this cold. If she's sick enough that she ends up missing school, then I worry." Dana didn't miss school for anything, even when she had a fever. This time, she hadn't had the energy to even argue with her mother when Maggie had suggested she stay home from school on Friday, and then that morning as well.

Fox gave her a small smile. "She's just fine, Maggie, don't worry," he said softly. He just hoped for Dana's sake that her parents wouldn't be too upset…and a little for his own sake as well. Her parents currently liked him, and it kind of hurt him to even think of doing anything to lose their trust and love. Now, however, he had a feeling they wouldn't like or trust him so much after they found out about Dana's condition.

* * *

 _Okay, I said Thanksgiving...there's still no Thanksgiving...for real though, it will actually be in the next chapter this time._


	19. Thanksgiving

_Thursday, 27 November 2014_

 _Scully Residence_

 _10:00 am_

The morning of Thanksgiving found Dana hunched over the toilet in her bathroom. She had already been up once at five that morning in the exact same position before stumbling back to bed and falling asleep again. Luckily her mother hadn't known she was awake yet or she would have known Dana was now going on fifteen minutes in the front of the toilet. Letting out a small groan, she leaned back a bit and ran her fingers through her hair, the change in position causing her dizziness to return. Just as the dizziness and nausea were starting to pass her by, she heard a soft knock coming from her bedroom door in the connecting room.

"Dana, if you're going to help with preparing dinner, I need you to wake up and come downstairs now, sweetie," she heard her mother call. "I don't want to start too late or we will be eating much later than we want to be."

Another small groan escaped Dana at the thought of food and she slowly pushed herself up from the floor and flushed the toilet. As she filled the glass by her sink with water and reached for the nausea medication and prenatal vitamins, she heard the door to her bedroom open slowly in the connecting room. "Just a minute, Mom," she answered her quietly, her voice just a little hoarse and strained but still loud enough that her mother would hear her in the next room.

She quickly swallowed her pre-natal vitamins before hiding them in the cupboard as her mother appeared in the bathroom doorway. "Are you still not feeling well?" Maggie asked with concern, seeing her daughter's pale face and the bottle of anti-nausea medication in her hand.

"I'm fine, Mom," Dana murmured, swallowing the anti-nausea medication. And she was. She felt fine now. Her cold has disappeared since her trip to the doctor on Monday, and now only a slightly runny nose still remained of that. The nausea, of course, still remained, although much less than it had been before now that she had the medication to help her. Sometimes, however, there was simply no way to avoid the morning sickness.

Maggie watched her daughter with concern and then let out a sigh, nodding slightly. She had been expecting the response. Even when she was actually feeling terrible she would still insist she was fine, as she had been doing on Monday before Maggie and Fox had forced her to go to the doctor. At least she was eating better, that was all that mattered to her. Plus, it was the only sure sign she had from her daughter that she was actually beginning to feel better. God knows that Dana would never give a straight answer to anyone on things like that. "Alright then," Maggie breathed. "Fox is here already, he's playing with Hannah. Get some comfortable clothes on and come downstairs. You can get ready completely after we've finished preparing."

The mention of Fox arriving so early brought a smile to Dana's face and she shook her head a little bit in amusement. Really, she had expected nothing less; he barely even lived in his own apartment anyway. She was just happy he was so content keeping Hannah entertained without her now. In the beginning he had been a little bit awkward and unsure around Hannah, but only due to his previous inexperience around children. "Okay," she answered her mother quietly, setting her anti-nausea pills down in the corner of the counter. "I'll be down to help in a few minutes."

Studying her daughter closely for a moment, Maggie sighed and then nodded. "I have breakfast made for you before we start," she told her quietly before heading back down to the kitchen. She hoped Dana would eat some of the breakfast, but she had just stuck to toast the past few days and had avoided any of the big breakfasts she had made for the family.

A small grimace crossed Dana's face as she watched her mother go for a moment before she briefly closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh, rubbing her temples. It was going to be a long day. She did like Thanksgiving, but a part of her just wanted to keep to herself for as long as possible while she came to terms with her pregnancy, as well as how she was going to break the news to her parents. While she had kept her first pregnancy from her parents she as long as she was possibly able, she didn't think she could say she had been as afraid to tell her parents as she was now. Then, it was known it was a consequence of something she hadn't asked for—a consequence she hadn't been able to control. This time, however…this time it had been entirely consensual…this time she had initiated it. And now she was pregnant again.

Now dressed and cleaned up a little, she finally made her way downstairs to the kitchen. Before she made it to her destination, she heard the giggles of her daughter and Mulder's silly voices, causing a smile to grow on her lips. Just those sounds had caused her spirits to lift and momentarily forget her current situation. Finally moving into the kitchen, she saw Fox feeding Hannah her breakfast, making silly sounds while he did so. Chuckling, she moved to make some toast for herself, ignoring the sigh and concerned look her mother gave her when she didn't take the offered plate of eggs, hash browns, and breakfast sausages. She was not feeling up to eating anything more than toast with maybe a little peanut butter after sitting in front of the toilet for so long twice that morning.

"Make sure you don't cause her to choke," she warned as she popped the bread into the toaster and then grabbed the jar of peanut butter. "Laughing while trying to eat isn't always the best combination, especially for a one-year-old who doesn't exactly have a lot of teeth to help her out with that food."

Fox looked up to Dana and gave her a smile, a genuine one that made his face glow with happiness. She loved seeing him like this—so happy and content. Of course, he had his initial panic with their news—and he would still have some like she did until they told her parents—but after the shock had worn off, he had been completely happy. Excited, even. He had played with Hannah before, but he was paying her even more attention now. Dana realised now how good he truly was with her, and she knew just from watching him with her daughter that he was going to be a wonderful father.

"Don't worry, Red," he teased with a smirk. "I got her. She's not going to choke on my watch."

Shaking her head, Dana chuckled again and turned back to the toaster to remove her toast. After spreading peanut butter on each slice, she moved to the table and sat down on the other side of Hannah's high chair, kissing the little girl's head before she sat. Hannah squealed when she saw her mother sit next to her, causing both Dana and Fox to start laughing. "Well, good morning to you too," she cooed softly to Hannah, kissing her cheek and brushing her messy red hair back from her face.

Having been watching her daughter for a few moments, Maggie let out a small sigh. "Dana," she said finally from her spot at the counter. "I made a big breakfast, why don't you have some of that instead of two slices of toast? We probably won't be having lunch and I don't want you to be too hungry while we wait for dinner."

Looking up from her plate of toast, Dana shook her head at her mother. "It's too much for me, Mom," she insisted. "Toast is just fine for me right now." Her mother began to open her mouth to protest but Dana quickly continued. "I promise I will try to eat as much as you want me to tonight."

Maggie shut her mouth, pursing her lips and letting out a frustrated sigh. Why couldn't she have had at least one compliant daughter? She wouldn't exactly call Melissa stubborn, but she wouldn't call her compliant either. She would rather call her rebellious. But Dana…Dana was just pure stubborn. "Fine," she murmured softly, turning back to the turkey she had been gutting and preparing. She knew there was no use arguing with Dana.

Letting out a small sigh of relief, Dana made eye contact with Fox, the two silently communicating through just the eye contact they made. After having spent most of the last few days with her, Fox knew that Maggie had been hovering quite a bit over her daughter, resulting in Dana becoming rather nervous and uneasy. There had been multiple times where she had expressed her fear to Fox that her mother was going to figure them out if she kept hovering so much. He really hoped they managed to figure out how to tell them before that happened. Maggie wasn't stupid; if Dana didn't start looking better to her soon she would start to suspect something.

"Good morning, family," they heard behind them after a few moments of silence in the kitchen, causing them all to turn to see Ahab enter the room with a grumpy and tired looking Charlie following behind him.

Dana noticed her father was looking rather pleased with himself while her brother was looking slightly damp around the head and torso. There was no way he had showered yet with the way he was slouching around, so there was really only one explanation. When he was home and there was a need to wake them up for any reason (including holidays when they were only allowed to sleep so long), her father had a habit of waking Charlie up by pouring water on his head since her brother was notoriously difficult to wake.

"And Fox…" she heard her father say, looking up at him to see him looking at Fox with a puzzled expression. Really, she found it quite funny that he was still so shocked and puzzled at how often Fox was present in their home. "Morning, Starbuck," he whispered tenderly when he approached her, kissing her head.

Dana gave her father a soft smile at the gesture, swallowing the bite of toast she had in her mouth. "Morning, Ahab," she greeted back, taking another small bite of her toast. She then looked up to Charlie with an amused expression. "Typical holiday wake up?" she asked with a smirk as she watched her brother rub a dish-towel over his head.

Charlie merely grunted incoherently and gave her a small glare, causing the others present in the kitchen to chuckle. "It's a holiday," he whined. "I'm supposed to be allowed to sleep in."

"Charles, it's already past ten, there is no way you are sleeping until past noon today," Maggie scolded. "You can spend some time with the family."

Grumbling some more, Charlie moved to grab a plate of food and then plopped himself down in a chair at the table.

Chuckling at his son and shaking his head, Ahab finally moved to his wife, pressing a soft kiss to her temple. "What time will Bill be here at, darling?" he asked softly.

Maggie turned her head to look at her husband, giving him a small smile. "I'm expecting him any time from now until noon," she said. "He told me he might get to town in time to have breakfast with us, but if not he'll definitely be here by noon. And he's bringing a girl with, apparently."

"Why does Billy get to bring a girl?" Charlie asked, suddenly very awake and very upset. "We've never even met this girl! You've met Sarah and I couldn't bring her! And Dana has Fox!"

"Charles…" Maggie sighed, clearly sick of having this same conversation.

Dana smirked a little and shook her head. "Charlie, you and Sarah have been on and off for the last three months," she reasoned. "Maybe Bill just wants us to finally meet his girlfriend. And as for Fox…well he basically lives here, of course he's going to have Thanksgiving dinner with us."

Giving her another grumpy glare, Charlie turned his attention back to his food and grumbled something under his breath again. The kitchen was silent for a few minutes after that, the only sounds coming from Maggie's work on the turkey and the clinking of silverware on the plates as everyone ate. Eventually the silence was broken by the front door opening, causing Maggie to immediately stop working.

"Is that breakfast I smell?"

"In the kitchen, Bill!" Maggie called, pulling her hands away from the turkey to wash them.

Just as Dana looked up from her plate again, Bill walked into the kitchen with his arm around a blonde woman's waist. "Hey, Mom," Bill said with a grin, moving to hug Maggie when she finished drying her hands off. "Breakfast smells great."

Maggie chuckled and kissed her son's cheek. "It's good to see you," she said softly, letting Bill go greet his father and brother as well and moving back to work on the turkey.

Finally, Bill got around to Dana, his smile faltering just slightly. "Hi, Danes," he said softly, ruffling her hair with his hand and causing his sister to grimace. "How you doing?"

Dana looked up at him and then back down to her toast. "I'm fine," she said quietly, picking up the sippy cup of milk for Hannah when she reached for it and screeched slightly. "There you go, baby," she whispered to her, kissing her head gently. When she pulled back from her daughter, she saw Bill watching her with a small frown. He immediately turned away when he noticed her looking at him, though.

After a moment of awkward silence, Bill turned back to the blonde standing uncomfortably near the doorway of the kitchen. He made the proper introductions between his girlfriend and his family, stopping when he got to Mulder and frowning, clearly just noticing him. "Who are you?" he asked, almost rudely.

"Bill…" Maggie started in a warning tone, giving him a look telling him to be civil. "That's Fox, Dana's boyfriend."

Bill frowned and then scoffed. "What kind of a name is Fox?" he asked, looking to Fox. "What's the matter…? Couldn't get yourself any other girl besides one that has a baby out of wedlock with that name?"

"Bill!" Maggie hissed.

Fox glared at him. He had heard quite a bit about Bill from Dana, and he knew all about how he treated her for getting pregnant. But he wasn't going to stoop to her level. "I'm surprised she took me, actually," he said. He still thought she was far too good for him, and he was extremely lucky. "Give your sister a chance. Maybe you'd be surprised to know that you may be wrong about her."

Bill was glaring at him at that point, but he rolled his eyes and turned away to grab some food for himself and Tara. "Where's Melissa?" he asked as he sat down at the table, as far away from Dana and Fox as he could get.

"She'll be here later on," Maggie explained, her voice just a little bit tense. She hadn't expected it to get so tense right off the bat, but it had. This was the first time they had seen Bill since summer of last year, so she had been hoping it would be okay…maybe it still could be; there was still lots of time left in the day. "She moved into her new apartment a few days ago, she's just trying to settle things a little better before she comes by this afternoon."

Bill nodded, only half paying attention as he watching his sister. She looked pale…although he remembered his mother mentioning that she was recovering from the flu. Why was she only eating toast, though? Shaking his head, he pursed his lips and continued eating, starting a conversation with his father instead of studying his sister.

* * *

 _6:00 pm_

"You weren't kidding…your brother is a real joy," Fox mumbled sarcastically as he sat alone with Dana in the living room. Missy had arrived a few hours before and had instantly whisked Hannah away to play with her, giving the two of them some time to sit alone if they wanted to. They had gotten into the habit over the past few days of not speaking above a whisper in the living room, just to be sure no one heard what they were saying. Just in case.

"He couldn't have even tried to be civil to me, he had to start only a few minutes after he arrived," Dana muttered, her voice clearly showing how upset she was with the way he had treated her all day, subtly or directly. She let out a sigh and closed her eyes as she rested her head against Fox's shoulder, frowning a little bit in discomfort.

Fox watched her worriedly and pushed her hair back from her forehead. "What's the matter?" he asked softly. "You feeling alright?" Taking in a deep breath through her nostrils, Dana nodded slowly, but the discomfort still showed on her face. "You don't look like you're feeling alright."

Sighing, Dana cracked an eye open slowly to look up at him before opening both eyes fully. "I don't know, I'm just queasy…" she murmured quietly. "And my lower back just hurts a little bit." Noticing the worried look on his face, Dana gave him a small smile. "Don't worry, it's normal. And it's not too bad. Nothing is wrong, don't worry."

There was the sound of someone clearing their throat from the doorway of the living room and the two looked up to see Bill standing there, watching them with narrowed eyes. "Mom told me to come get you for dinner," he said, turning to make his way back to the dining room.

Exchanging a look with Fox, Dana let out a sigh and stood slowly, accepting Fox's hand when he offered to help her up. "It's almost over," he whispered in her ear, kissing her temple as they made their way into the dining room.

Dinner started off quiet as everyone began to pass the food around the table, putting something of everything onto their plates. Fox passed the stuffing down to Dana and she gladly accepting it, stuffing being her favourite part of Thanksgiving. As she began to spoon it out, however, the smell of it managed to get to her, causing her previous queasiness to turn to full blown nausea. She quickly passed the stuffing on to Missy and stood from the table, running to the bathroom.

Everyone stared after Dana in surprise except for Bill, who had his eyes narrowed on the seat where she had previously been sitting. When Dana came back a few minutes later, pale and exhausted looking, everyone turned their attention to her, still silent. "W-what…?" She asked hesitantly. Dana looked around at her family in confusion as she sat back down in her chair, a worried expression suddenly coming over her face as she waited for someone to speak.

"So when's this one due, Dana?" Bill finally spoke up, his eyes still narrowed on his sister.

Dana's eyes widened at his words, panic gripping her heart. "E-excuse me?" She asked, her voice almost inaudible. Looking around the table, she saw confusion on everyone else's face at Bill's words.

Bill obviously noticed his family's confusion as well, because he scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Come on, you can't tell me it isn't obvious!" He exclaimed. "Mom said she's been sick for the past week with the flu, which seems to be much worse in the mornings, I heard her complaining earlier about being queasy and her back hurting, and now the smell of something she usually loves made her sick. Clearly she's pregnant again."

The table stayed silent.

* * *

 _It took me a while, but it's there now :) I am going to start getting busy with school assignments, but I'm still going to try and find time to update regularly. Thank you all again for the reviews!_


	20. The Truth

_Thursday, 27 November 2014_

 _Scully Residence_

 _6:30 pm_

Dana's eyes were wide, her mouth hanging open in shock at her brother's words. How had he figured it out? How did he know all the symptoms? He was a man; most men knew nothing about pregnancy symptoms or pregnancy in general. She hesitantly looked around the table and noticed everyone else looked about as shocked as she did...but they all had their eyes trained on her. The only one who didn't was Fox. Fox looked as if he was ready to murder Bill.

"Dana?" she heard her mother ask in concern.

Hesitantly, she looked to her mother and then back to Bill, the smug look on his face beginning to make her angry. Her face turned a little red in anger as well as embarrassment, and she averted her eyes from everyone for a brief moment. The feeling of Fox's hand taking hers under the table eased her emotions a little bit. Tears had filled her eyes and she chanced another glance up at Bill, a glare on her face this time when she saw he was still wearing his smug expression.

"I hate you..." she hissed, finally letting go of Fox's hand and pushing her chair back from the table. Standing quickly, she turned and fled from the room, disappearing up the stairs all the while completely ignoring her mother's calls after her.

Fox watched Dana run from the room, taking a moment to consider whether or not he should go after her. A whimper from Hannah pulled him from his thoughts and he leaned over to gently caress her cheeks and whisper softly to her that everything would be fine. He was pretty sure he was trying to convince himself, actually. The whimpers, it seemed, were not quite enough to calm Hannah because a moment later, she let out a cry, looking around for her mother. Sadly, Mulder pressed a kiss to the little girl's forehead and lifted her from the high chair, holding her close to him in his lap. She started to calm down a little bit while she snuggled into him, her thumb going into her mouth.

"It figures," Bill started smugly. "She was asking for it the first time and she clearly asked for it this time as well. It's her fault, so I don't see why she thinks she can be so upset about it."

"Stop it!" Fox snapped at him, causing everyone to look at him in surprise. "Stop. She's your sister," he started, his voice getting a little emotional. He hadn't been able to protect his own sister from the predator that had gotten her, but he would have done anything to be able to help her. This man, however...he wouldn't even consider the fact that his own little sister was innocent in her rape, let alone try to protect her from it every happening. He had a chance to protect her, and instead, he chose to judge her. "You're her older brother. You are supposed to protect her and comfort her, not judge her. Clearly you're not doing your job at all because she's afraid to be around you! She's afraid of what you may say about her! What the hell kind of brother says things like that about his little sister?"

Bill stared at Fox in shock and then glared at him. "Because it's all true!" he growled. "She's a slut, and then she just goes and cries victim! She doesn't have that right because she asked for it!"

"No she didn't!" Fox insisted, getting frustrated with Dana's dense older brother. "None of it is her fault! She was raped. Do you even understand what that means, Bill? She was raped," he repeated, emphasising each word. "She still cries about it, Bill, did you know that?" He heard Maggie gasp in shock at those words but he kept going. "And sometimes she even has a hard time expressing feelings to me because she is afraid. I have to remind her that the man who did that to her was a monster! I have to remind her that everything between us is at her pace and that I would never hurt her or force her to do anything because she is still scared. And you know why she's still scared? It's probably because her big brother never felt the need to stand up for her or save her!"

Everyone stared in shock at Fox and he finally realised his outburst. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "But it needed to be said. She shouldn't be treated this way because someone thought he could take liberties with her without asking her permission."

Bill was glaring at him across the table. "Well didn't you take those exact same liberties with her?" he growled, causing Fox's anger to rise again. What was this guy's problem? Why was he like this? None of Dana's other family members were like him, as far as he knew. So why did he act like this?

"No," he responded shortly, attempting to keep his temper in check this time and not fly off the rail as he had done a few minutes ago. "Like I said before, I would never hurt her, and I would never force her into anything. It was all her decision." Everything had been entirely consensual between them, and he would make sure it continued to be. Dana had a painful past, and he didn't ever want to repeat that with her, even by accident. She didn't deserve that.

Hesitantly, Fox looked around the table one more time before letting out a sigh, shifting Hannah in his lap and holding her a little closer to him. "I should go talk to her," he whispered quietly, starting to stand with Hannah still in his arms.

"No, I'll do it," Maggie said, finally speaking for the first time in a few minutes. "You stay here." The tone in her voice broke his heart; this was what he had been worried about. He had a feeling he may not be allowed around anymore because of this. He did as he was told, however, and watched as Maggie left the dining room.

Climbing the stairs, Maggie let out a quiet sigh and shook her head. She couldn't believe this, although a part of her just hoped Bill was being spiteful and that none of this was actually true. Dana and Fox's reactions, however, led her to believe that there definitely was truth to her son's accusations. Finally reaching her daughter's closed door, Maggie knocked softly.

"Go away!" she heard Dana's hoarse, muffled voice say. She could tell already without even seeing her daughter that she was crying.

"Dana..." Maggie called softly, slowly opening the door without her daughter's permission. The first thing she noticed as she entered was the fact that Dana was curled up in the centre of her bed, her face buried in her pillow. "Sweetie..." Maggie tried again as she sat lightly on the end of Dana's bed, placing a gentle hand on her daughter's ankle.

A whimper came from the pillow and Dana quickly pulled her ankle away from her mother's touch. "I don't want to talk, Mom," she sniffled quietly, moving her face from the pillow to glance up to her mother. "Please, I just want to be alone."

Maggie felt her heart break a little when she saw her daughter's red, tearstained cheeks. Letting out a sigh, Maggie gently pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm afraid you don't really have much of a choice, sweetheart," she told her softly. "Would you like to explain to me what happened down there?"

A small sob sounded from Dana and she shook her head quickly, her face once more hidden in the pillow. She couldn't tell her parents anything. They would be so disappointed. This time, it was her fault...well, both her fault and Fox's as well. She wasn't raped this time. This time it was her choice, and she still ended up getting pregnant.

Maggie watched her daughter sadly and gently placed a hand on her back, rubbing it soothingly. She couldn't help but feel sorry for her; Dana was so young and yet she had been through more than Maggie could even imagine. However, looking at Dana and Fox, she couldn't help but be reminded of herself and Bill when they were that young. She figured it may perhaps be time for her to tell Dana their own story.

"Is Bill right?" she asked her quietly. "Are you pregnant?"

This time Dana nodded slowly and more sobs came from her, becoming uncontrollable.

"Oh, Dana..." Maggie whispered, leaning over her daughter and gently kissing her temple while she continued to rub her back. "I had my suspicions, actually," she admitted, kissing her temple again to attempt to ease her tears.

Dana tensed a little bit at those words and then slowly looked up to her mother in surprise. "You did...?" she asked quietly. She had thought she and Fox were being so discreet about it, but it seemed not.

"I'm your mother, dear," Maggie whispered to her. "I see the changes that happen in you, and I could tell that there was a dynamic shift between you and Fox in October." Dana looked worried and started to open her mother to speak, but Maggie quickly continued. "Did I ever tell you about your father and me when we were yours and Fox's age?"

Dana watched her mother quietly, curiosity crossing her features. Her mother had spoken of her childhood before, but she typically never talked about her and Ahab in their younger years, before they were married. Slowly, she shook her head.

Maggie gave her daughter a small smile, gently caressing her cheek with her thumb. "Your relationship with Fox reminds me a lot of the relationship your father and I had when we were your age. I was eighteen, like you, and your father was twenty-one, like Fox. We were just as inseparable as the two of you. Every time I watch the two of you together I am reminded of your father and me.

"The summer after I graduated from high school, we spent all of our time together," she continued. "And in August, your father was sent away with the Navy for the first time. He proposed to me the night before he left and we spent our first night together." She watched her daughter quietly for another moment before she continued. "A month later, I discovered I was pregnant with Bill Jr."

Dana looked at her mother in surprise. "Really?" she asked quietly. "I...I didn't know that." She knew her parents had been young when Bill was born, but she had always thought her parents had been married before her mother got pregnant.

Maggie gave her daughter a tiny smile and reached out to gently caress her cheek again with her thumb. "I told you your situation is quite similar to what ours was," she said quietly.

Face falling a bit, Dana took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. "But Fox and I aren't getting married like you were when you found out," she whispered shakily. "And I can't force him to marry me because of this. We haven't known one another long enough."

That was where Maggie disagreed with her daughter; they may not have physically known one another very long, but emotionally it was as if they had known one another for years. "Sweetheart, I think emotionally the two of you know one another well enough to have been married for years already," she explained softly with a small laugh. "I'm not saying you need to get married—you can do that when you're ready as far as I'm concerned—and I don't believe Fox will leave you because of this." She let out a tiny sigh and brushed a strand of her daughter's red hair back. "I just wish the two of you had been more careful."

Dana shook her head in response to those words. "We used protection," she whispered quietly. "And—and I started birth control afterward. But I guess it mustn't have been enough for that one night..." She took in a deep breath and sat up slowly, brushing the tears from her cheek. "I really don't think Mulder would leave me, though," she added quietly. "We were both shocked at first, but I actually think he's excited at the prospect of becoming a father. He's already so good with Hannah, and he's even been spending more time with her since we found out."

A smile had started growing on Maggie's face while her daughter spoke. "I've noticed that too," she said with a smile. "He's going to be a wonderful father, Dana. You should have seen him with Hannah after you left the table a while ago." She smiled and brushed her daughter's hair back. "Despite the circumstances the two of you are currently in, I believe you really are with the right person in this. The way he stood up for you to Bill down there, Dana...it was very admirable."

There was a look of surprise in Dana's eyes at her mother's words. "He stood up to Bill for me?" she asked shakily, her eyes filling with tears again.

"Of course he did," Maggie whispered softly to her. "That boy loves you, Dana. It's very obvious he would do anything for you."

* * *

 _I'm so sorry this took so long, guys! I swear I am not giving up on this story. I still have a lot in mind for it. I've just been really busy with school and I haven't had the time to type up this chapter. I have four things due next week, but I decided to finish this up instead. I hope it was worth the wait!_


	21. Twas the Night Before Christmas

_Wednesday, 24 December 2014_

 _Scully Residence_

 _8:00 pm_

After Christmas Eve dinner had finished, Fox watched Dana start to help her mother and sister clean up while Hannah happily continued to pick at her dessert in her highchair. He smiled just a little bit as he studied the messy toddler and then glanced to the door when he noticed Dana's father leaving the room. Dana had told him that her family had a tradition of watching A Christmas Carol after they had finished eating and cleaning up on Christmas Eve so he was assuming her father was going to set up the movie. Taking in a deep breath, he closed his eyes for a moment before slowly standing to go speak to his girlfriend's father in the family room.

William Scully had not exactly been pleased with him and Dana after the surprise pregnancy announcement at Thanksgiving dinner nearly a month ago, but he was slowly becoming more accepting. It probably helped in his eyes that Fox had never hurt Dana, unlike the man who had gotten her pregnant with Hannah, but Fox couldn't say that actually made him feel any better about speaking with William lately. Fox knew all William wanted was for his daughter to be happy; he did not like those who hurt her. That fact was part of the reason why Bill Jr. wasn't present at the Scully family's Christmas celebrations that year, along with the fact that Bill had stated that he would rather spend Christmas with his girlfriend's family instead of dealing with his pregnant, slut sister. Those comments had not gone over well with his father.

Just thinking about Dana's jerk of an older brother made Fox's blood boil. It still baffled him that any brother could treat his little sister like Bill Jr. had. He definitely knew he would never ever come close to treating Samantha that way, and he would want to kill anyone would try to treat her like that. His sister had been through far too much in her life to be treated like that now, as had Dana.

Before entering the living room and approaching William, Fox had to take another deep breath, trying to gather his courage. Finally, he approached the man, slowly sitting down in an armchair near him. "Sir..." he started uneasily, using the formal title William had told him not to use the first time he met him. After the blow up at Thanksgiving, Fox felt as though he no longer had the right to be informal with him. "I would like...um...I would like to ask you something..." He trailed off a little and glanced to William, gulping when he saw Dana's father staring at him. "If I may..." he added uncertainly, his voice quiet.

There was silence for a few moments, the only sound Fox could hear being the sound of his own pounding heart in his ears as he waited nervously for William to say something. "Well, what is it?" William finally asked, his voice surprisingly calm to Fox.

Fox cleared his throat and quickly looked down, fiddling with a string on the hem of his shirt nervously. "Um...I want to ask to marry your daughter," he explained softly. "And...and I would like to ask for your permission." He looked up at him, needing to blink a few times when he realised tears had filled his eyes. He didn't even know what he would do if William Scully wouldn't allow him to marry Dana. "I-I love her and I want to spend the rest of my life with her and Hannah...and our baby. I promise I'll protect them with everything that I am. I won't ever let anything hurt her..."

"Fox," William interrupted, surprising Fox when he started chuckling quietly. "I don't need you to explain your reasonings to me. I can see how much you and Danna love on another. I may have been angry and disappointed with the both of you when I first heard your news, but just watching the two of you over the last month has helped me come to accept it. That and the fact that the two of you are clearly perfect for one another." He gave Fox a small smile and slowly leaned forward to clap the young man on the shoulder. "Ask her to marry you, Fox. There would never be anyone else I would want to marry my little girl besides you. You have my permission and my blessing."

Fox's eyes widened and he let out a small laugh, a large smile growing on his face. "Thank you, sir!" he exclaimed happily, his smile falling when the man gave him a look at the formality of his words. "William," Fox corrected, his smile slowly starting to come back.

Chuckling, William nodded at his enthusiasm, turning his attention back to the tv as he brought up the menu for the movie. "I know I don't have to tell you to be good to her," he told him with a pointed look.

Shaking his head, Fox's smile continued to grow. "No, William. I would die before I was anything else to her."

* * *

 _I am so sorry for how long this took me. School and everything. I hope the time jump was okay, I was having issues figuring out what to right in between Christmas and Thanksgiving so I just skipped right to Christmas. I just hope it was worth the wait for everyone and that it fit :) I apologise for the length, but I felt that this needed to be done on its own and not within a larger chapter. Thanks for bearing with me! :D_

 _Oh, also thank you to JustTooMuch on AO3 for helping me and motivating me!_


	22. The Proposal

_Wednesday, 24 December 2014_

 _Scully Residence_

 _11:30 pm_

With the movie finished for the night and Hannah long since put to bed, Dana disappeared up to her room. Fox had left for a few minutes to grab a few things from his apartment that he would need to stay the night; she had managed to convince her father it made no sense for him to go home so late when he would just be back early again the next morning.

So while she waited for Fox to return, Dana took a moment to check on her sleeping daughter and then returned to her room and gathered together her warmest blankets. In spite of the fact that it was Christmas Eve, it was actually warmer out than normal. The window of her room opened out onto a flat, fenced off area of the roof, and she thought it would be nice to do a little stargazing with Fox before they decided to go to sleep.

Opening the window, she pushed the pile of blankets and pillows out onto the roof first before crawling out herself. When she had everything set up nicely, she crawled under the blankets and leaned against the pillows she had propped against the wall beside the window. Once she was settled, she pulled out her phone and typed out a message to Fox:

 _On the roof. Bring hot chocolate. ;)_

Sighing quietly, she snuggled a little further under the blankets. Her gaze travelled up to the sky, a smile growing on her lips when she saw the number of stars that were visible. For December, it truly was a really beautiful night, and cloudless nights really were very rare in the winter months. She could actually pick out all of the constellations her father had shown her as a child.

"I come bearing the hot chocolate you requested, my lady," she heard a few minutes later. Turning her head, she looked to Fox climbing through the window with a smile on his face. "Wow, you set up nicely out here."

Dana smiled and shrugged almost shyly. "It's actually quite nice out for Christmas Eve," she said quietly, nodding her head to the sky full of stars as she sat up slowly and took the hot chocolate from him.

"You're not planning on making us sleep out here, are you?" Fox teased with a small smirk as he got under the covers next to her.

Giggling, Dana shook her head. "No, it's definitely still a little cold for that," she said with a small smile. "Maybe if it was summer time I would suggest it, but right now I think a little bit of cuddling under the stars is enough."

Fox nodded slowly in agreement and Dana's smile grew as she leaned into his open arms, sighing happily when he wrapped them tightly around her. They remained silent for a few minutes, Dana actually nodding off for a few moments in his arms due to the level of comfort she was currently experiencing. The sound of a soft alarm going off woke her, and she groggily looked up at Mulder. "What's that?" She asked quietly, rubbing her eyes a little bit.

Fox smiled softly at her, gently brushing her hair back and kissing her head. "I just set an alarm for midnight," he said quietly, still gently playing with her soft, red curls. "Didn't want to fall asleep outside in the cold." Humming quietly, Dana let her eyes slip closed again and snuggled back into him. "Do you want to head back inside and get into bed? Or should I set another alarm for a little bit later?"

Another small sound came from Dana, this time a tired sigh. "Don't set another alarm," she said quietly. "But I want to stay here for another five minutes. Is that okay…?"

Fox watched Dana quietly for a few moments, a small smile growing on his lips. She was so cute all sleepy and cuddly like this, although he wasn't sure he would ever say that directly to her face. "Okay," he whispered softly, pressing a tender kiss to the top of her head and brushing her hair back. "Five more minutes. Then straight to bed, do you hear me, missy?" he added in a mock scolding tone, earning him a tired chuckle from Dana. "Six-thirty role call under the tree, remember?" The only response he got was a tiny hum, causing him to chuckle and pull Dana closer to him.

There was another moment of silence, Fox simply watching Dana as her breathing began to even out a little bit. He really didn't want to move her at all now; the peaceful look on her face as she cuddled closer to him was just too much. But they definitely couldn't stay outside all night or they would freeze to death.

One thing was definitely for certain, though: he wouldn't be able to propose anymore now that she was practically asleep. Or…a thought slowly began to dawn on him and a small smile grew on his lips as he pulled the ring box out of his coat pocket. He opened it, smiling happily as he thought of the life they could have together. Just the two of them, Hannah and the new baby…and maybe a few more children if she wanted them.

When he was certain she was fully asleep, he gently lifted her left hand, taking the ring out of the box and slipping it onto her finger. He had no idea how, but somehow he had managed to get her size exactly right. It was like the ring was made for her, and the diamond was just the right size for her dainty fingers. Just looking at the ring on her finger made him inexplicably happy.

The five minutes passed, and Fox didn't have the heart to wake her. Leaving the untouched hot chocolate on the ground, he stood and gently lifted her. The hardest part was trying to climb through the window while holding her without waking her. By the time he got to the bed, however, she had only stirred once. After gently placing her on the bed, he moved back out onto the roof to get the blankets and pillows.

Once the window was locked and he had tucked Dana in with the blankets to his satisfaction, he gently crawled into the bed and held her close to him. "I love you," he whispered softly to her, tenderly brushing his lips against her temple before drifting off to sleep with her.

 _Christmas Morning_

 _6:00 am_

Half an hour before they were all supposed to be downstairs under the tree, the sound of her mother moving around downstairs woke Dana slowly. Letting out a content sigh, she shifted a little bit, snuggling in closer to Fox and slowly moving her left hand onto his chest. As she did so, the sparkle of something on her finger caught her eye, causing her to gasp and sit up suddenly in bed when she saw what it was.

"Fox!" She gasped quietly, one hand covering her mouth as she stared at the ring on her finger.

The sound of Dana's gasp caused Fox to startle awake, looking over to her, worried that something may be wrong. When he noticed her looking at the ring in surprise, he gave an almost shy smile and then slowly sat up in the bed beside her. "So…" he breathed quietly. "What do you think?" He paused for a moment and then shifted a little bit, taking in a nervous breath and then rambling on. "I was going to do a whole speech and everything, and then you fell asleep, and you looked so beautiful and peaceful that I couldn't help just slipping it onto your finger to see what it looked like, and then it fit so perfectly, and I didn't want to take it off, and…"

Dana giggled softly and leaned in to press a soft kiss to his lips, shaking her head slowly. "No," she breathed quietly, kissing his lips again. "This was perfect. I didn't need a big speech. Actually, I think I prefer it this way. The surprise was wonderful."

After a moment of staring at her in shock, a bright smile grew on Fox's lips and he let out a soft laugh. "So that's a yes?" he asked with a large smile. "You'll marry me?"

Another kiss was placed to his lips.

"Was it ever a question?"

* * *

I am so sorry it took me so long to post this! I know I had promised someone that it would be posted months ago, and I actually did have half of this written back in March...and then I got majorly hit with schoolwork (my 25 page thesis among many other essays) and writer's block. But JustTooMuch on AO3 helped me by giving me an idea for the rest of it, so I am eternally grateful to her! I hope this lives up to everyone's expectations! I could end it here, but I had also thought of doing an epilogue. What does everyone think?


End file.
